The Apostolic Exhortation “Laudate Deum”: a Technocratic vs. Ecological-Integral Approach for a Solidarity-Based and Sustainable Economy

After the publication of the encyclical ‘Laudato si’, Pope Francis calls more strongly on ‘all people of good will - not only Catholics’ (LD, 2023) to act now to combat global climate change and reduce the negative effects of human activity on the environment. Among the main drivers of climate change are fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), the use of which must be drastically reduced in the coming years to avoid further irreparable damage to our planet and to stabilise the climate. The publication of the “Laudate Deum” is certainly an exhortation to the countries meeting at COP 28 in Dubai to reflect on the gravity of the climate problem and, above all, a reminder of their responsibility to the environment and to all people, especially the most fragile and marginalised. The reading of “Laudate Deum” highlights the strong call for a globally sustainable and solidarity-based economy, transforming the current technocentric economic vision to an ecological-integral one. Through the reading of “Laudate Deum”, the paper aims to highlight, on the one hand, some key points that could be considered strategic for a concrete change in the current economic approach (including the importance of the social aspect, which has become dramatic but, at the same time, often marginalised; the role of information to guide the individual's operational choices) and, on the other, to highlight the role of the agri-food system in the fight against climate change, because “the climate crisis and the food crisis are inseparable”.