Faith and Climate Justice: A Collective Call to Action 

Just over a month ago, the world’s attention was focused on Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29, the UN Conference on Climate Change. Josianne Gauthier, CIDSE Secretary General, looks back at what happened and reflects on the role played by faith-based organisations and Catholic actors. 

Before travelling to Baku, a number of (civil society) organisations had to face an essential dilemma: are we ready to participate in this climate forum in a place associated with massive oil exploitation, with historical and still recent bloody repression of the Armenian minority, and which declared at its opening ceremony that fossil fuels are a ‘gift from God’? These already difficult ethical and moral questions, added to the urgent call of the climate crisis, pose a profound challenge. How can we reconcile the urgency of climate change and the importance of occupying as much of the space available to us as possible with the often very painful contradictions of this process?    

These questions were (and are) all the more pressing and troubling for faith-based organisations. Many of us made the agonising choice to travel there in the end, coming from different faiths, different regions of the world, pursuing different and specific and technical issues related to climate negotiations. These organisations often represent the most vulnerable communities and marginalised groups in their respective countries, who lack access to decision-making spaces and are unable to influence the political decisions that directly affect their lives. These are the communities that are currently experiencing the worst consequences of our collective inaction in the face of the climate emergency and yet have done the least to fuel this crisis.    

Faith-based organisations have come to COP29 to bear witness, to express solidarity, to advise, and to urge decision-makers and negotiators to consider the impacts of climate change on excluded groups and communities, and to respond to this emergency with courage, responsibility, accountability and ambition. They seek to put life at the centre of decision-making – human life, but also biodiversity and the life of the whole planet. As the Anglican Bishop of Panama, His Grace Julio Murray, so eloquently put it, ‘we have a ministry of presence’.

The key theme at this latest COP was finance, because of the central issue of the resources needed to combat the worst effects of climate change, to help vulnerable communities prepare and adapt, but also to ensure the transfer of skills, expertise and tools. Finally, because, unfortunately, it is already too late to talk only about prevention, and the worst damage is already being measured in terms of loss of people and biodiversity, as well as loss of territory, ecosystems, cultural identity and livelihoods.

Effective climate finance must therefore also contemplate losses and damage that have already occurred. In this context, we must acknowledge that impoverished countries are burdened by national debts to rich and powerful countries, often former colonisers, as well as to private banks and other financial institutions, and we must consider that they can’t afford to pay even more interests for loans to sooth the effects of a crisis for which they were the least responsible in the first place.  

Faith-based organisations demanded that any financial commitments made at COP29 should not be in the form of additional loans, which only push climate vulnerable countries into an ever-deepening spiral of debt and fragility, but that these funds should be provided as grants, as it is a question of justice, equity and responsibility of the countries that are the biggest polluters and consumers. 

And among all these people from different backgrounds and denominations, what about the presence of Catholics? What is our contribution to this group of experts, advisors and activists for justice? We have the gift of the Church’s social teaching and the words of Pope Francis to guide us and call us to action in defense of Creation and our common home. We also offer our hearts and project our voices loud and clear for solidarity and justice, as we join the chorus of other faith actors present, as well as all the organisations that have come from around the world to share the messages and cries of the earth and of the marginalised. But we also have a responsibility, linked to our faith, to respond to the call to mobilise our Church.   

For some years now, Catholic organisations present at UN climate conferences have been preparing together in the months leading up to the COPs, coordinating their messages, supporting each other and organising a dialogue with the Holy See delegation to share the points of advocacy that are seen as most urgent. Indeed, now that the Vatican has ratified the Paris Agreement, the Catholic Church and all the Catholic organisations present can play an even more important role in these negotiations, working together to strengthen and amplify the voice of Catholics worldwide, while supporting the efforts of the Holy See as a signatory and official party. 

_{Meeting with the Holy See Delegation and Catholic Actors at COP29. Credit: CIDSE.} 

In Pope Francis’ speech, delivered by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, during the Holy See’s opening statement at COP29, the Catholic Church called on the assembled parties to act with courage and ambition, to propose visible commitments and concrete solutions for a just future for the whole planet, because “indifference is complicity with injustice“.  

Finally, in the face of the very visible obstacles and the fears and anxieties associated with this meeting, we have no right to lose hope, not out of ignorance or willful blindness, but on the contrary, out of clear-sightedness and fidelity to our commitment. We were there to bear witness, to be present and to pave the way together.  

Although the outcomes of COP29 were challenging (and still insufficient), we still have a chance to work together and change the course of our actions, urging developed countries to step up to their accountability and commitment to tackling the climate crisis. This will demand collective effort, which is why COP30, taking place in Brazil in 2025, holds significant stakes for Catholic actors. 

COP30 will require an agenda rooted in systemic change because incremental progress is no longer enough. Catholic and faith actors fighting for our common home must unite to challenge systems of power and work collectively towards outcomes that address the needs of the most vulnerable and protect the planet. Diverse voices and perspectives must be brought to the negotiating table to ensure representation for all. 

But our collective efforts must go beyond climate conferences, such as COP30 or other international fora. The real impact of our work must extend to local communities, where the effects of the climate crisis are most deeply felt. It is there that the principles of justice, equity, and care for creation must take root. By linking global advocacy with grassroots action, we can ensure that our mission for systemic change truly embodies the values for which we stand. 

Together, we carry a moral voice that is needed in this time of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and a responsibility to remind decision-makers of their commitments. We have committed to protect the climate in the Paris Agreement, but also to safeguard life in all its forms through the Global Biodiversity framework, and to combat desertification as our planetary boundaries are pushed to their limits. We have a responsibility to future generations from whom we have borrowed this Earth, and we must continue to work for justice, peace, equity, and integrity of all peoples, in our words and in our actions. 

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Cover photo image: Catholic Actors Meeting during first week of COP29 in the Blue Zone. Credit: CIDSE.