The 30th UN climate conference will take place from 10-21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. It will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29. Faith groups will be there in force.
The context for this year’s climate change summit is significant in a variety of ways. Geographically Brazil and the wider Pan Amazon region represent the global violence that comes with extractivism. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’ and the 2nd anniversary of Laudate Deum. This year also marks 10 years since the COP20 Paris Agreement which, while never ambitious enough, was seen as a significant step towards addressing the climate crisis. People are demanding that COP30 delivers country commitments that meet the urgency and scope of the moment.
With this context, for the first time ever, a joint message by the Catholic Episcopal Conferences and Councils of Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa was released in anticipation of COP30, A Call for Climate Justice and the Common Home: Ecological Conversion, Transformation, and Resistance to False Solutions. This document speaks not only of demands and calls to actions by governments but also the Church’s responsibilities and commitments to justice, equity, and protection.
A global organizing moment will happen in the form of an interfaith virtual prayer at the opening of COP30. As a member of USG-UISG JPIC Commission, Columbans are collaborating with the Interfaith Liaison Committee of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to host the prayer event as a way of connecting globally, especially for people who will not be in person at COP30.
An action that individuals can take is to send a letter directly to their Country Representative attending COP30, Religious Life for Climate Justice: Turning Hope Into Action: Statement and National Contributions Campaign. This initiative is co-organized by USG-UISG JPIC Commission, Franciscans International, VIVAT and Jesuits for Climate Justice.
Some of the key advocacy points that many groups are promoting include:
- Loss and Damage Funding
- Climate Debt owed by Global North
- Just Energy Transition
- Increased ambition for national commitments and accountability
- Climate and Food systems
In addition to these points, many groups are advocating for greater integration between the various U.N. environmental treaties and processes including Climate, Biodiversity, Land Degradation and Desertification, Plastics, and Ocean Protection. This call for integration is part of a broader conversation about the efficacy of the UN and the need for systemic transformation of the institution.
Columbans have been involved in UN Climate Summits for decades and perhaps among the earliest Catholic groups engaged in the process. We have been on the inside of the negotiations, including Fr. Sean McDonagh, as a member of the official government delegation from Ireland. We have been outside on the streets, in parishes, at vigils, and on pilgrimages. We have worked with partners from other religions, indigenous communities, and a wide range of local and global civil society organizations. This year Columbans continue to be engaged in a variety of ways. Let us continue on this synodal path, walking with each other and all of creation, in a way that restores life rather than destroys.