ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV took aim Wednesday at skeptics who “ridicule those who speak of global warming,” as he strongly embraced Pope Francis’ environmental legacy and made it his own in some of his strongest and most extensive comments to date. Leo presided over the 10th anniversary celebration of Francis’ landmark ecological encyclical, Laudato Si (Praised Be) at a global gathering south of Rome. Leo told the estimated 1,000 representatives from environmental and indigenous groups that they needed to pressure national governments to develop tougher standards to mitigate the damage already done. Trump has long been a critic of climate science and polices aimed at helping the world transition to green energies like wind and solar power. Leo quoted Francis’ follow-up encyclical, published in 2023, in which the Argentine pope shamed and challenged world leaders ahead of a U.N. conference to commit to binding targets to slow climate change before it’s too late.