WCC News: "To care for the Earth is to love the Creator": Indigenous leader at COP30

Indigenous peoples safeguard 80 percent of Earth's remaining biodiversity. Yet their voices are often excluded from climate negotiations. Their territories face extractivism and violence. Jocabed R. Solano Miselis is an Indigenous leader from the Guandule Nation in Panama and a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Indigenous Peoples Reference Group. She is also a member of the WCC’s Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development.  Jocabed Solano at the COP30 in Brazil. Photo: Valter Hugo Muniz/WCC 15 November 2025 At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Solano Miselis shared what territory means for Indigenous peoples, how Indigenous women resist, and why the church must stand with those protecting biodiversity. What does territory mean for your people? Solano Miselis: For Cuna women and for the Cuna people, territory is the sacred place where we Cunadules live. A sacred place that carries the importance of our roots, which arise from the spirituality of the Cunadule people, reminding us that territory is much more than the place where we live. It is a physical space but also a political, economic, and spiritual space where we converge and where life is shared not only by us, the Cunadules, but also by our sibling trees, rivers, and plants. As territory is a sacred place, we must care for it; from a political perspective, it calls us to remember that life and the Earth were given by the Creator, which means that territory, for us, is also our life. What does it mean to be an Indigenous woman today? Solano Miselis: To be a Cunadule woman today is a great joy and a celebration. It is also to recognise that we exist as the seed of resistance, the resistance of our grandmothers. To be an Indigenous woman also means to struggle so that our identity, our language, our knowledge, and our wisdom are preserved. And here at COP30, to be an Indigenous woman also means to resist. This means that the participation of Indigenous women in decision-making is necessary, because today Indigenous women still hold identity, culture, and spirituality. This also relates to the preservation of 80 percent of the planet's biodiversity. How do you see the relationship between Indigenous spirituality and Christianity? Solano Miselis: The historical memory of Indigenous peoples is bound up with the violence of the cross and the sword. We recognise that the invaders came to our territories in Abya Yala and brought a form of Christianity that was not the real Christianity - not the Christianity based on the liberating Gospel of Jesus, but one of oppression and death. Now, points in common between Indigenous peoples and the Christian faith - many. First, we remember there is a Creator who loves creation. From other narratives, other language, other metaphors and symbols, Indigenous peoples say the same. Indigenous peoples believe there is a Great Creator - a Creator who is mystery. We recognise, then, that the Earth is not an object but a subject. For us, to care for the Earth is to love the Creator; to respect the Earth is to respect the Creator; to live in reciprocity with the Earth is to recognise that we receive the Creator's gifts. What do churches need to do to be better allies of the Indigenous peoples? Solano Miselis: We call on the global church to unite in solidarity with the struggles of Indigenous peoples. We recognise that Jesus calls us to stand with the most vulnerable. We need to recognise that this is not a folkloric or accessory theology; it is a theology that permeates the whole life of the church. So we cannot be church without the Indigenous church. We cannot say we are the Body of Christ without the body of the Indigenous church. We are the Body of Christ when the Indigenous church is also present. When we speak about participation of Indigenous peoples, we need to recognise that Indigenous peoples must not only be invited into the spaces. They must also be the ones who buy the food - if I can use that metaphor - cook it, prepare it, design the menu, and set the table with others. That is what inclusion means. But if inclusion does not truly allow for the full participation of Indigenous peoples in their own right, then it is folkloric inclusion. The WCC continues to advocate for meaningful Indigenous participation in climate negotiations and for churches to integrate Indigenous theology into their understanding of creation care and justice. Follow WCC's COP30 coverage at www.oikoumene.org/cop30 COP30 Photo Galleries Click here to join the WhatsApp channel with daily live update from Belém, Brazil Churches called to lead climate action as world leaders gather for COP30 (Feature Story, 6 November) Daily COP30 updates connect churches to climate negotiations (News Release, 5 November) #COP30 Interviews: Jocabed Solano | What do churches need to do to be allies of Indigenous peoples? See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland