Pope Francis took his environmental advocacies up a notch by accepting an electric car in late February.

The electric car, a Nissan LEAF, was a gift from Jochen Wermuth — a German asset manager based in Berlin. His asset management firm works closely with the Vatican to promote the pope's climate advocacies.

He initially presented a Tesla Model S electric limousine to Pope Francis. However, the pontiff preferred a smaller car.

The pontiff, known for his addresses about the importance of environmental stewardship and the dangers of climate change, accepted the gift in the hopes of setting an example to his fellow world leaders.

"The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement," Pope Francis stated in his 2015 climate encyclical.

The pontiff was notably directing most of his addresses regarding environmental stewardship in the U.S. last year, especially after President Donald Trump claimed that global warming was a Chinese hoax.

Pope Francis responded to the president's claims when he spoke at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in November 2016, saying: "The 'distraction' or delay in implementing global agreements on the environment shows that politics has become submissive to a technology and economy which seek profit above all else. [Humans are not] owners and masters of nature, authorized to plunder it without any consideration of its hidden potential and laws of development."

Wermouth and Pope Francis took the LEAF on a test drive, with the leader of the Catholic church riding shotgun, around the Vatican. The electric car runs on a 30 kilowatt-hour battery and can travel to 107 miles.

Wermouth, a Protestant, is a well-known active supporter of the environmental movement. He donated the largest sum to Germany's green party — the Greens — and supported their campaigns in Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin.

All his ventures in promoting the Vatican's environmental advocacies are guided by the pontiff's 2015 encyclical, "Laudato si': On Care for Our Common Home." Wermouth's firm is also working to put the city-state's investments in sustainable enterprises.