Pope Leo hits out at critics of global warming

The Pope was speaking at a conference to mark 10 years since the publication of Laudato Si'.

That landmark document, external, written by his predecessor Pope Francis, made the issue of climate a central part of the church's concerns.

Many credit it for helping set the tone that led to the Paris climate agreement in 2015.

But the new Pope, who was elected in May, was worried that the question of climate change was now becoming more divisive.

Referring to his predecessor's writings, he said: "Some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming, and even to blame the poor for the very thing that affects them the most."

Just two weeks ago at the UN General Assembly in New York, US President Donald Trump criticised the climate movement as the "greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world", and rebuffed the use of renewable energy.

"The carbon footprint is a hoax made up by people with evil intentions, and they're heading down a path of total destruction," he said.

Pope Leo, the first pontiff born in the US, has previously clashed with Trump's White House on issues including migration and national security.