EarthBeat Weekly: Catholic Church of Brazil, Latin America heads to COP30 climate summit

Catholic Church in Brazil heads to COP30 climate summit   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change November 14, 2025   The statue of Christ the Redeemer is lit up in green on World Environment Day in Rio de Janeiro, June 5, 2025. Brazil is hosting the COP30 United Nations climate change conference Nov. 10-21 in Belém. (OSV News/Reuters/Pilar Olivares) This week, the United Nations climate conference known as COP30 officially opened in Belém, Brazil, at the edge of one of the most critical ecosystems to life on the planet, the Amazon rainforest. Within this setting, and in one of the most populous countries for Catholics, Brazil's bishops have sought to bring a powerful faith presence to the international climate talks, as Eduardo Campos Lima reported for EarthBeat this week from Brazil. An unprecedented number of cardinals and bishops are set to take part in sessions, aiming to instill hope amid accelerating climate change and a moral plea for actions that address rising temperatures while respecting nature and human dignity. "The conference is happening in the Amazon and, to a great extent, the debates also involve the Amazon. For the Brazilian church, it's been historically a very special topic," Archbishop João Justino de Medeiros Silva of the Diocese of Goiânia, first vice president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (known by the acronym CNBB), told Campos Lima. For more than two years, the Brazilian bishops have been leading the Latin American church's preparation for the event, alongside the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM), the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM), the Conference of Religious of Brazil, the Brazilian chapter of Caritas Internationalis and the Laudato Si' Movement. While COP30 comes 10 years since the Paris Agreement's adoption, it also marks a decade since Pope Francis issued his social encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." That document, along with his follow-up Laudate Deum "on the climate crisis," have guided the Brazilian church in their preparations for the U.N. climate conference. Those papal writings from Francis together with the 2019 Vatican synod for the pan-Amazon region have helped center the Amazon Basin in Catholic life in Brazil, Silva said, including its engagement and preparations for COP30. Read more: Catholic Church in Brazil mobilizes to bring 'prophetic' voice to UN climate summit   What else is new on EarthBeat:   Caritas leader Q&A: 'The golden age of aid' is over by Brian Roewe "We're not going to see that money coming back," said Alistair Dutton, Caritas Internationalis secretary general, who spoke with NCR about the ramifications of cuts in funding for international development. Read more here »   For 30 years, leaders have promised climate action. The Earth has waited in vain. by Doreen Ajiambo With COP30 underway in Brazil, faith leaders say the time for polite appeals is over. From Turkana's dry fields to the Amazon's burning forests, the church is turning to action and demanding world leaders keep their promises. Read more here »   Faith leaders confront the world's fossil fuel hypocrisy at COP30 by Doreen Ajiambo As world leaders gather in Belém, Brazil, for the COP30 climate summit, faith leaders call out the "tragic, sinful gap between the call to care for creation and the failure of governments to act." Read more here »   Risking the Questions podcast: Elizabeth Johnson speaks on God and creation by Tom Roberts, Joan Chittister Listen: Sr. Joan Chittister talks with feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson about her latest book, Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth.  Read more here »   How the US cut climate-changing emissions while its economy more than doubled by Valerie Thomas, The Conversation U.S. renewable electricity generation, including wind, solar and hydro power, has nearly tripled since 1995,  Read more here »   What's happening in other climate news:   A flood of green tech from China is upending global climate politics —Somini Sengupta and Brad Plumer for The New York Times Built to fail: Rules at UN climate talks favor the status quo, not progress —Bob Berwyn for Inside Climate News COP30: Climate justice means a just transition —Francesca Merlo for Vatican News Environment takeaways from the spending deal —Andres Picon for E&E News How urban farms can make cities more livable and help feed America —Matt Simon for Grist Voters' anger at high electricity bills and data centers looms over 2026 midterms —Marc Levy and Jesse Bedayn for the Associated Press How Trump officials have transformed the EPA to weaken enforcement —Jake Spring and Amudalat Ajasa for the Washington Post If Trump opens up California for offshore oil drilling, will any companies jump in? —Rob Nikolewski for the San Diego Union-Tribune Final Beat:   There was ample coverage at NCR this week of the U.S. bishops' annual assembly in Baltimore. Ahead of the public sessions, bishops met in executive sessions on a variety of topics, one of which was on best practices for the continued instruction of Laudato Si', Pope Francis' now decade-old encyclical on creation and socio-environmental challenges facing the world.  How U.S. bishops have responded to and applied Laudato Si' has been a focus of our reporting at NCR and EarthBeat over the past 10 years. That focus will continue, so be sure to watch for additional reporting in this area in the coming weeks and months.  Until next week, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? Place an Ad in NCR's Online Classified Section for Only $75 per Month!   Advertisement