Amy Echeverria, is the Columban International Coordinator for Justice, Peace, and Ecology and will be present at the COP16 as part of an international multifaith coalition of leaders. The purpose of attending these international summits is to bear witness to the global community that people of faith are committed to advocating for the protection and restoration of biodiversity.
Biodiversity is the bedrock of life on Earth, underpinning our global economy, combating climate change, and sustaining the food systems that nourish the world. Yet, we are witnessing an unprecedented crisis: habitats are vanishing, and up to a million species face extinction, threatening the lives and livelihoods of the billions of people who depend on them.
This year’s COP is the first since the signing of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022. One critical aspect of COP16, that Columbans and the Faiths for Biodiversity network are monitoring, is how countries are updating their National Biodiversity Action Plans to be in line with the Goals and Targets of the Framework.
COP16 will further develop the monitoring framework and advance resource mobilisation for the Framework. COP15 was about agreeing to targets for protecting nature – COP16 is about accountability in showing concrete plans for meeting those targets.
Amy Echeverria says: “We know that the Framework is imperfect, but it is a valuable tool available to civil society to hold governments and businesses accountable for commitments made. It is also a tool that we, as an international Catholic organisation, can use to keep ourselves accountable in our decisions, lifestyle, ministries, and spirituality to care for the web of life.”
This commitment to biodiversity restoration and protection was recently affirmed at the international Columban General Assembly in June 2024. Held in Peru, it was a gathering of leaders and delegates from the countries where we are present. Columban Society Leader, Fr. Andrei Paz, spoke of mission priorities, “as not merely directives to be implemented, but rather invitations that can inspire and challenge us to live out our vocation…to become our way of responding to Jesus’ commission to share the Gospel message with all creation.”
Pope Francis, in his 2024 message for the annual Season of Creation (1st September – 4th October), asked, “why is there so much injustice, so many fratricidal wars that kill children, destroy cities, pollute the environment and leave Mother Earth violated and devastated?” This is a question that Columbans will be raising at COP16.
Columbans live first-hand the interconnections of war, militarisation, human migration, and the destruction of Earth. Military conflict in Myanmar and extractive industries in Fiji, Chile, Peru, Philippines and Pakistan affect Columban Missionaries and the communities we serve. Climate migrants to Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Britain, Ireland and the United States as well as increased military tensions and threats of nuclear disaster in Northeast Asia, are some examples of places and circumstances that demonstrate how the web of destruction is tied together. Columban Missionaries’ message at COP16 is a call for ecological conversion which manifests in universal peace with humanity and with the Earth.
Let us undo this web of destruction and construct the web of life that centres on nonviolent, just, equitable and ethical ecosystems and economies for all of creation.
