WCC Podcast: Faith communities bring moral voice to COP30 as climate ambition falls short

In the latest World Council of Churches (WCC) podcast, recorded just weeks after COP30 concluded in Belém, Brazil, Athena Peralta, director of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, reflects on the conference's mixed outcomes. While COP30 delivered real progress on adaptation finance and just transition mechanisms, it fell disappointingly short on fossil-fuel phase-out. In conversation with WCC communications, Peralta shares what faith communities achieved at the UN climate conference, where governments failed to meet the urgency of the moment, and how churches can engage in the newly launched Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action. 10-21 November 2025, Belém, Brazil: The ecumenical delegation at worship, dialogue, and advocacy events during the United Nations climate summit COP30.  Photo: Photos: LWF/Albin Hillert 09 December 2025 We advocated at COP30 alongside Indigenous peoples and frontline communities with three clear asks: ambitious climate plans, climate finance as grants rather than loans, and a just transition that includes vulnerable voices. Did governments hear us? Peralta: Governments heard some of our calls. COP30 agreed to triple adaptation finance to developing countries by 2035 and created a just transition mechanism to protect workers and vulnerable communities as we shift to renewable energy. The Gender Action Plan was adopted too. This means women and girls will have a voice in climate policy. But the ambition just wasn't there. Just weeks before COP30, a massive hurricane hit Jamaica. During the conference, a super typhoon pummelled my own country, the Philippines, and neighbouring countries. Lives were lost, homes destroyed, livelihoods wiped out. Even though adaptation finance tripled to around 120 billion US dollars, that falls far short of the roughly 400 billion a United Nations Environment Programme report says we need. The deadline also slipped from 2030 to 2035. And COP30 failed to deliver any plan to phase out fossil fuels. What hopes came from interfaith and ecumenical collaboration at COP30? Peralta: Our collaboration showed clearly through the faith and civil society activities at COP30. We delivered a shared message rooted in our values: we must protect the poor and most vulnerable communities, and safeguarding creation means stopping fossil-fuel production. Climate talks need this moral voice. The Brazilian presidency launched a global ethical stocktake. This recognises the need for faith perspectives. We brought young people and Indigenous peoples into our delegation. Faith communities also offer an holistic approach to the climate crisis: there can be no climate justice without gender justice, indigenous peoples' rights, and debt justice. After COP30, what can churches do to join the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action? Peralta: The ecumenical decade centres on ecological metanoia - a fundamental transformation of heart and systems. Churches need to mobilise their communities to push for climate justice. They can transform theology and worship, centring care for creation. They can strengthen climate resilience through grassroots work. And we must practise what we preach - show care for creation in how we invest and bank. COP30 left us with mixed feelings - disappointment, yes, but also inspiration. We saw the passion of ordinary people - climate migrants, Indigenous people, young people - doing everything they can to change the world. Witnessing that changes you. Somehow, despite everything, we see hope. That hope drives the transformation we need. Listen to the full episode here. WCC's COP30 coverage at www.oikoumene.org/cop30 COP30 videos  COP30 Photo Galleries 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