The Catholic Churches of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia have united to launch a powerful message ahead of COP30 to be held in Brazil. Their message is clear: enough with false promises, we need real climate justice.
The document emerges from a painful reality: while the planet warms at an alarming rate (1.55°C in 2024), it’s precisely the countries and communities that have contributed least to the problem who suffer most from its consequences. Half a billion people already live in desertified areas, and the crisis accelerates daily.
What most frustrates these Churches is the hypocrisy of the current system. They see how people talk about “green economy” and “energy transition,” but in reality it’s the same old logic: turning nature into commodities, allowing big polluters to keep polluting while buying “green credits,” and continuing to exploit Global South territories now in the name of “sustainability.”
Their proposal is radical yet hopeful. Inspired by Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si’,” they call for a profound “ecological conversion” that goes beyond technical changes. They speak of “joyful sobriety” – living well but without rampant consumerism – and the “good living” of indigenous peoples, who understand harmony with nature.
Their demands are concrete: that rich countries recognize and pay their historical ecological debt, stop financializing nature, truly protect vulnerable communities, and definitively abandon fossil fuels.
But they don’t stop at denunciation. They announce the creation of an Ecclesial Observatory that will monitor compliance with climate agreements and propose a great alliance among the Global South to face this crisis together.
It is, in essence, a call to change the entire system – not just energy, but the whole way of understanding development, economy, and our relationship with Earth. A message of resistance, but also of hope.
https://www.arcores.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Iglesia-Sur-Global-1.pdf
