Cardinal Pietro Parolin warned political leaders in Belém that they ‘cannot afford another decade of missed opportunities’.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at Thematic Session 2 on the Energy Transition during the Belém Climate Summit.07 Nov 25 - Thematic Session: Energy Transition (CC BY 4.0) by UNclimatechange
The Laudato Si’ Movement brought water from a melted fragment of glacier blessed by the Pope to COP30. Pope Leo blessed the glacier at the “Raising Hope” conference at Castel Gandolfo last month, which marked the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’. Members of the Laudato Si’ Movement, supported by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, brought the water to the city of Belém in the Amazon rainforest to raise awareness of the urgent need for responses to the climate crisis.
Faith delegations travelled in force to the thirtieth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which began on 10 November. “Let’s ignite a decade of climate action acceleration and delivery,” said António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, on the first day.
The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, delivered a message from Pope Leo to the COP30 Heads of State summit on 6-7 November, preceding the opening of the main conference. The cardinal also made his own speech, warning that the world “cannot afford another decade of missed opportunities”.
“The challenges identified in [the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement] are more relevant today than they were ten years ago, yet achieving its goals still seems far away,” Parolin said. “We must ask ourselves what is missing.”
He said the Paris Agreement “has not only environmental, economic, and political significance, but also social and ethical relevance, since it primarily affects the lives of the poorest and most fragile”, emphasising the importance of education in shaping ethical attitudes and responding to the climate crisis.
“Political and technical measures must be combined with an educational process that fosters a cultural model of development and sustainability based on fraternity and stewardship of creation,” Parolin said, calling for a “culture of care” to replace a “throwaway culture”.
The Laudato Si’ Movement – together with the World Council of Churches, Green Anglicans, and GreenFaith – invited faith institutions worldwide to take part in a global announcement of divestment from fossil fuels on 18 November. More than 370 Catholic institutions globally have already divested, and Church leaders and groups have been prominent in warning about the devastating impacts of fossil fuel use.
The International Energy Agency has warned that no new fossil fuel development is compatible with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal. Yet major oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and TotalEnergies, continue to increase production and abandon climate pledges.
In July 2025, Catholic bishops in Latin America, Africa, and Asia issued a joint appeal to COP30, calling for the end of fossil fuels. They said that “abandoning fossil fuels is not only necessary to reduce emissions, but also to repair an ecological and moral debt to the Global South and communities affected by pollution, extraction, and climate change”.
Jesuit Missions produced an online prayer guide for COP30, featuring daily prayers and reflections. Their campaign statement calls for debt cancellation, strengthening the Loss and Damage Fund for countries affected by climate change, advancing a just energy transition, and supporting sustainable food systems rooted in food sovereignty and agroecology.
Columban missionaries issued a COP30 mission statement, urging world leaders to commit to bold, enforceable climate policies that prioritise frontline communities. These should support faith-based and Indigenous-led ecological initiatives, uphold the principles of integral ecology, recognising the interconnectedness of environmental, social and spiritual well-being. The Columbans called on conference to commit to reaching the agreed target finance for Loss and Damage to developing countries and to commit to a planned and just transition to end fossil fuels.
CIDSE, the global network of Catholic social justice organisations, released a COP30 “Call to Action” for governments. The group said it will be “engaging with civil society, local communities and faith actors to demand climate justice rooted in solidarity”.
The chairs of committees of the US bishops’ conference that address climate policy joined the president and chief executive of the Catholic Relief Services to call for “bold mitigation efforts that reduce climate warming emissions”.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressed world leaders in 80 per cent humidity during the Heads of State Summit.
“COP30 must be the COP of truth,” he said. “It is time to take the scientific warnings seriously.”
A Global Day of Action to support COP30 will take place in Belém and hundreds of other locations internationally on Saturday 15 November.
Patrick Hudson and Ellen Teague, Columban Justice, Peace and Ecology in Britain.
Source: The tablet
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