Pope Francis calls for action on climate change, migration crisis

Pope Francis has called on governments around the world to collaborate to make migration a safer and voluntary choice.

As the world marked World Food Day on Monday this week at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, the Pope noted that assuring food security for all requires tackling climate change and ending conflicts.

This year's theme focuses on addressing migration through investing in food security and rural development.

"It is clear that wars and climatic change are a cause of hunger, so let's not present it as if hunger is an incurable disease," the pontiff said during his key note address, according to information from FAO. 

He called for a total commitment to gradual and systematic disarmament, and urged a change to lifestyles, the use of resources and the production and consumption of food to protect the planet.

In reference to the development of the Global Compact on Safe, regular and orderly migration, the first agreement of its kind negotiated by governments under the auspices of the UN - he said, "Managing human mobility requires a coordinated, systematic intergovernmental action in line with existing international norms, and full of love and intelligence".  

"What is at stake is the credibility of the whole international system," he added.  

He also said it was unfortunate that "some" countries are moving away from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Between 2008 and 2015, an average of 26.4 million people were displaced annually by climate or weather-related disasters alone. In total, there are currently an estimated 244 million international migrants, 40% more than in the year 2000.