Pope Outlines Next Steps for Vatican to be a Solar State in Apostolic Letter “Fratello sole”
On June 21, 2024, Pope Francis continued to outline the Vatican’s plan to become a solar nation issuing the Apostolic Letter “Fratello sole” (Brother Sun). The motu proprio is available on the Vatican website in English, Italian, and Spanish at this time.
In the document of less than 500 words, Pope Francis provides for the construction of an agrivoltaic plant in the extraterritorial zone of Santa Maria in Galeria, where Vatican Radio has maintained antennas for broadcasting since 1957. The site, located approximately 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Vatican, consists of 430 hectare (1,063 acres).
Highlighting the need “to make a transition to a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, setting the goal of climate neutrality,” In a decree, he says that the solar energy generated by this initiative would be sufficient to fuel not only the Vatican’s radio operations at Santa Maria but the Vatican City State itself.
Agrivoltaics, also known as “dual-use” solar, involves the use of land for both solar energy and agricultural production. For example, crops can be grown, or livestock grazed, or pollinator habitats maintained underneath or adjacent to solar panels.
The pope restates his belief that “mankind has the technological means to deal with this environmental transformation and its pernicious ethical, social, economic and political consequences; and among these, solar energy plays a key role.”
Under Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican installed a solar panel roof on its main audience hall and accepted a donated “climate forest” in Hungary to offset its emissions. The Vatican has begun replacing its car fleet with electric vehicles as part of an overarching plan. In 2023, the Governatorate of the Vatican City State announced “Ecological Conversion 2030.” In harmony with Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si and the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, this plan aims to pursue various sustainable, carbon-neutral projects and technologies in the 44-hectare (109-acre) Vatican city state.
