Pope Francis said sunday that recent heat waves in many parts of the world and floods in countries like South Korea showed more urgent action is needed to combat climate change.
"Please repeat my call on world leaders to do something more concrete to limit polluting emissions," the pope said at the end of a july 23 address to crowds in St. Peter's Square, the Vatican.
"It's an urgent challenge, it can't be postponed, it affects everyone. Let's protect our common home," he said, reuters reported.
Francis has called on the world to give up fossil fuels as soon as possible, and has made protecting the environment a key goal of his papacy.
He said in his 2015 encyclical "Thou be praised, O Lord" that the planet is "beginning to resemble more and more a large pile of waste."
On Sunday, the pope expressed his solidarity with those suffering from the climate crisis and those who are helping them.
Parts of the southern United States have been hit by a record-breaking heat wave, while extreme temperatures have also been recorded in China and southern Europe, including Italy and Greece.
A wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes forced thousands of tourists and residents to take shelter in schools and indoor stadiums on Sunday, as they were evacuated from villages and coastal holiday centres.