Thanks to the collaboration of the bishops of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, “A call for climate justice and the common home” was presented 10 years after Laudato Si’ and the Paris Agreement. The document warns against “false solutions" like “green capitalism" and urges rich countries to pay their ecological debt. For FABC President and Archbishop of Goa Ferrão, COP30 should be a “moral turning point".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The bishops’ conferences and councils from Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America have released a 34-page document calling for climate justice and ecological conversion ahead of the UN climate change conference, COP30, set to take place on 10-21 November in Belém, Brazil.

Presented today at the Holy See Press Office, A call for climate justice and our common home: ecological conversion, transformation, and resistance to false solutions is a symbol of the global Church’s journey towards COP30.

The product of a synodal process that began in August 2024 involving the Bishops’ Conferences and Councils of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, it starts off noting that “Ten years since the publication of Laudato Si’ and the signing of the Paris Agreement, the countries of the world have not responded with the necessary urgency”.

The introduction emphasises the Church’s commitment to go “beyond words,” and to urge the world’s political leaders to “Join forces to strengthen democratic multilateral processes, such as the Paris Agreement (reached on 12 December 2015), and rebuild trust in cooperation and dialogue, uniting us as humanity, North and South, for the well-being of the planet.”

The document is the result of a “collective discernment,” in the sign “of hope, invoking the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and in communion with the mission of the universal Church.”

The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), and the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) participated in this process, coordinated by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCAL).

Commented today by the cardinal presidents of these entities, the document calls for an urgent “ecological conversion,” while simply highlighting the scientific evidence: “The science is clear: we must limit global warming to 1.5°C to avoid catastrophic effects.”

The paper criticises the lies that are circulating on climate and environmental issues. “We reject false solutions such as ‘green’ capitalism, technocracy, the commodification of nature, and extractivism, which perpetuate exploitation and injustice.” Instead, the goal is:

Fairness: “Rich nations must pay their ecological debt with fair climate finance without further indebting the Global South;”

Justice, “Promote economic degrowth and phase out fossil fuels;” and

Protection: “Defend indigenous peoples, ecosystems and impoverished communities, recognising the greater vulnerability of women, girls and new generations; and climate migration as a challenge of justice and human rights.”

All this follows the pleas from Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV to combine integral ecology with justice.

Dr Emilce Cuda (PCAL), Card Jaime Spengler (CELAM), Card Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (SECAM), and Card Filipe Neri Ferrão, FABC President and Archbishop of Goa and Damão, India, spoke at the press conference, held in Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French.

“From Asia, a land of immense spiritual, cultural, and ecological diversity, we join the global clamour for a transformation that is not only technical, but ethical, prophetic, and profoundly human,” Card Ferrão said in his address.

The prelate noted that the message shared in the document is “pastoral” rather than “diplomatic”.

Speaking about the situation in his continent, he lamented that “millions of people are already living the devastating effects of climate change: typhoons, forced migration, loss of islands, pollution of rivers”, situations that have been addressed with soulless, “false solutions”.

“In the face of all this, the Loss and Damage Fund (climate financing mechanism created at COP27 in Egypt in 2022) must be urgently operationalized,” the Indian cardinal said. It “must guarantee priority access to the affected communities.”

Card Ferrão called on the most developed countries to “recognize and assume their social and ecological debt, as the main historical perpetrators of natural resource extraction and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Archbishop of Goa and Damão stressed that the ecological debt of the Global North “will reach 2 trillion by 2050”, with huge annual extraction from the Global South. “We therefore call for fair and accessible climate finance for local communities and organizations, including women, that does not generate more debt, to ensure resilience in the Global South”.

Listening and consideration must be given to the “devastating effects of climate change”, as well as to “the ancestral wisdom of our communities”. To this end, Ferrão said: “Stop the expansion of fossil fuels, expand clean renewable energy solutions in consultation with men and women in local communities, especially decentralized solutions.”

While rich countries must pay their ecological debt, the Church is committed “beyond criticism,” to promoting “alternatives.” They include “protection policies, accompaniment of women and girls - the most affected- , and strengthening of interreligious networks for the defense of life.”

“We want COP30 to be not just another event, but a moral turning point,” Ferrão said in concluding his address.

• vatican
• church
• environment
• ecological conversion
• card filipe neri ferrão