VATICAN:The Vatican is to become the world's first "carbon neutral" sovereign state through trees planted in a Hungarian national park to offset carbon dioxide emissions and energy used in Vatican City, writes Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent.
It reflects the church's growing concern over environmental issues. Last April the Vatican sponsored a two-day conference on climate change, while Pope Benedict and other church leaders have called for more attention to be given to environmental problems.
In June Vatican officials announced they planned to cover the Pope Paul VI hall, where many papal audiences take place, with photovoltaic panels which will make it possible to heat, cool and light the building with solar power.
Italian newspapers recently published photographs of statues in St Peter's Square which are again covered with black spots just eight years after being cleaned. The damage, a Vatican official said, was due to exhaust from traffic.
Vatican support for environmental protection dates back at least to 1972, when Pope Paul VI sent a message of encouragement to a UN-sponsored conference on the subject in Stockholm.
Centesimus Annus, the 1991 encyclical of Pope John Paul, introduced the concept of "human ecology", which placed emphasis on humanity's responsibility for care of the planet.