• The Catholic Climate Covenant is a new way to respond to the impacts of climate change.
• It focuses on how climate change affects the Earth and the poor.

• The extreme poor are hurt most by climate change, while they have the smallest carbon footprint.

A coalition of Catholic organizations announced the creation of the Catholic Climate Covenant as a way of responding to the impacts of climate change.

The initiative's Web site said Catholics have a moral obligation to care for the Earth and the poor, who are hit hardest by climate change.

This is an opportunity to embrace part of the tradition of being good stewards towards creation, said Dan Misleh, executive director of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change which launched the initiative. It is part of who Catholics are at the core, he said.

The heart of the covenant, which includes both lobbying and education, is the St. Francis Pledge, Misleh said.

The pledge encourages people to pray about climate change, learn about it, assess their carbon footprint, act on the results of their assessment and advocate for the poor who are hurt by climate change, Misleh said.

"It's not multiple choice," he said. "We want people to do all parts."

St. Francis, the patron saint of ecology, was deeply passionate about poverty and creation, Misleh said.

"His model is a good example to follow when we deal with climate change," he said.

Shaun Ferris – senior technical advisor for agriculture and environment at Catholic Relief Services, a member of the coalition – said the people suffering the most are the poor who contributed the least to the problem.

Rich countries can invest in solutions to climate change, but poor countries do not have the income or assets to adjust to it, he said. They have to live with what is going on instead of just turning up their air conditioners, Ferris said.

Variable and extreme weather, increased frequency and longer duration of droughts are effects of climate change, he said. As droughts become more frequent, people lack more food and income, Ferris said.

Changes in human and crop diseases are also a result of climate change, he said. Malaria is becoming more common in areas where it usually is not found and is also mutating more quickly, Ferris said.

The ice caps are melting and raising water levels, said Jame Schaefer, associate theology professor. Due to coastal flooding, the poor will have difficulty living there but have no place to move, said Schaefer, who directs the interdisciplinary program in environmental ethics.

Certain crops will not be able to grow in areas they previously did' which will cause people who grow them to migrate, she said.

"We think two of the biggest threats are climate change and global poverty," Ferris said.

The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, a coalition member, is concerned about how climate change will affect the poor, said Joshua McElwee, peace and justice intern at the ACCU.

Catholic colleges that are members of the association, including Marquette, have shown interest in the issue by creating new courses and service opportunities to deal with it, McElwee said.

It is up to individual institutions to determine how they will respond to the covenant, he said.

Marquette's sustainability officer is looking at the covenant and will make a recommendation to senior leaders, Tim Olsen, communication manager at Marquette, said in an e-mail.