WCC news: Churches remind COP31 of lives behind the data, says Rev. Charissa Suli

When Pacific peoples speak about climate, they speak about land, ocean, and ancestors, says Rev. Charissa Suli, president of the Uniting Church in Australia. On some islands, she says, the water is rising. Suli is at COP31, the 31st UN climate conference, in Antalya, Türkiye, as a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation. She says the churches have a task there that negotiators do not have: to remind the people in the rooms of the human lives behind the data. The WCC spoke with her about faith, the Pacific, and what she wants young people to know. Photo: Valter Hugo Muniz/WCC 12 November 2026 Suli, who has led the Uniting Church in Australia, a WCC member church, as president since 2024, calls herself “a daughter of the Moana,” the word for the ocean in many Pacific languages. Fiji, Tuvalu, and Australia hosted the Pre-COP, the meeting of ministers that prepares the negotiations, in Nadi, Fiji, on 5–8 October. Pacific countries asked there to keep the 1.5°C limit on global warming within reach, to make climate funding reachable for the hardest-hit communities, and to put the ocean at the heart of the agenda. The meeting began with an ecumenical service. How does climate change affect you personally? Suli: When we talk about climate change and the effects of climate, it’s deeply personal, because we’re not just talking about climate itself. We’re talking about land, about people’s relationship to the oceans, to land and waters, seas and skies. We’re connecting back to generations to our ancestors and the way that the climate crisis is affecting our people. You know, there’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of uncertainty, particularly for those who are still living on in the Pacific Islands, where water levels are rising. How can faith be a source of active hope, and not only of prayer? Suli: Faith plays a really important aspect for Pacific Islander peoples, because you can’t separate faith from justice, from identity, from migration, from belonging. It helps give people an anchoring. It gives them courage to speak truth, right? To the powers that be. So it’s an embodiment of their whole life. The Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion, the shared space of Pacific countries at COP31, holds morning prayers. What does this say about how Pacific peoples come to the talks? Suli: I’m not sure if the world paid attention to how the Pre-COP began. It began with an ecumenical service where we had the privilege of preaching to world leaders. And one of the messages that I reminded them was that nobody can hide before God. And so that was a moment where we said to the world, this is how we begin as Pasifika people. There are no hidden agendas. There were no negotiations. It was just human beings coming together and sharing a moment of their faith. Most people in the ecumenical delegations are not experts in negotiations. What is the role of the churches at COP31? Suli: I believe the church has a particular role where we know we are not the negotiators. Politicians and negotiators have a responsibility and there’s a particular role that they play. I believe the church comes alongside that, right? And we bring the spiritual accompaniment, the pastoral care, praying for people, because it can do a lot to their mental health. They’re tired, they’re fatigued. And if the church doesn’t speak in this space, then who will remind them of the human lives that are behind the data? What is your message to people who follow COP31 from home, especially young people? Suli: When we talk about climate justice, it’s not just the data. We are talking about the humanity of people. These are people’s lives. We shouldn’t always look at Pacific Islander peoples through the lens of fear, because right now they are leading, they are negotiating, they are doing the teaching back to their children. I think it’s important that young people know their labour is not in vain. Don’t feel discouraged, but lean into the support systems that are around them to hold them. And I think that’s what we can do as a church and keep pointing back to the hope that Christ, you know, brings to all of us. But it’s a hope that takes action. The WCC delegation of church leaders, young people, and Indigenous people is in Antalya until 20 November. Its work is part of the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action (2025–2034), the WCC’s ten-year commitment to climate justice. Delegates will join the COP31 Ecumenical Service at St Alypios’ Church in Antalya on 15 November and the roundtable dialogue “Facing Ethical Challenges” on 18 November. Follow WCC’s COP31 coverage at www.oikoumene.org/cop31 and on the Living Planet WhatsApp channel. WCC at COP31 Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action (2025–2034) Churches bring knowledge of resilience to COP31, says Komino Talanoa for COP31: creation is a gift, not a marketplace Uniting Church in Australia: “Resilience is no longer enough”: Pacific churches issue powerful call for climate justice Re-grounding the household: returning to our story in Christ  Churches remind COP31 of lives behind the data: Rev. Charissa Suli 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