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The world needs new economic models that respect human dignity and protect creation, Pope Francis told an interfaith delegation from England.

Responding to the needs of people and the environment also requires a determination to overcome the 'throwaway' culture of waste generated by present-day consumerism and by a globalized indifference that inhibits efforts to address these human and social problems in the light of the common good, he said April 20.

We need, in a word, to acknowledge that the environmental and social crisis of our time are not two separate crises but one, which, therefore, requires the creation of new and farsighted economic models, he said.

The pope's remarks came during an audience at the Vatican with a delegation of religious and civic leaders from Manchester.

He expressed his appreciation for the delegation's efforts as religious and political leaders to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect the environment and to work concretely to address the effects of climate change.