2026 is a big year for nature! As a ‘triple-COP’ year, it brings together the Conferences of the Parties (COPs) under the three Rio Conventions, covering climate change, biodiversity and desertification. These international gatherings come at a crucial time, as the global community looks to measure collective progress and accelerate action towards the 2030 targets.
There is growing recognition that international commitments must translate into tangible outcomes on the ground.
Care for Creation is central to Columban mission, as underlined by our recent commitment to protect and restore biodiversity. Around the world, we live out this vocational call through practical action, from the eco-project at our headquarters in Solihull to the native tree-growing programme in Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. We also work through faith formation and advocacy to encourage greater care for our common home.
This commitment to advocacy has seen Columban Missionaries participate in two of the international COP meetings taking place this year. Amy Woolam Echeverria, International Coordinator for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, attended the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in August.
Amy also attended the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Armenia, alongside Marjorie Engcoy, Columban Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Officer in Fiji; John Din, Columban Regional JPIC Coordinator in the Philippines; and Fr Liam O’Callaghan, Columban Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Coordinator in Pakistan.
Our attention now turns to the imminent 31st session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), taking place from the 9th to 20th November 2026 in Turkey. Columbans will be watching closely, hoping and praying for serious and rapid implementation of existing commitments – action that is desperately needed to sustain our common home.
To learn more, why not attend this informative-looking webinar from our friends at the London Jesuit Centre? It aims to help us make sense of the discussions and key issues surrounding COP31.
