USCCB, CRS urges world leaders to address climate change at COP30

WASHINGTON - As world leaders gather for the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), the bishop chairmen who lead committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that address climate policy were joined by the president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to call for urgent, courageous action to protect God’s creation and people. 

Archbishop Borys Gudziak, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, and Mr. Sean Callahan’s statement follows: 

“This year’s COP30 convenes while the Catholic Church celebrates the Jubilee Year of Hope.   Pope Leo XIV called for the participants of COP30 to ‘listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, families, indigenous peoples, involuntary migrants and believers throughout the world.’ This jubilee year is a sacred opportunity to restore relationships and renew creation at a time when the gift of life is under grave threat. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation are devastating communities already burdened by poverty and exclusion. Farming and fishing families confront threats to their livelihoods; Indigenous Peoples face destruction of their ancestral lands; children’s health, safety, and futures are at risk. Failing to steward God’s creation, ignores our responsibility as one human family.

“A decade ago, in Laudato si’, Pope Francis reminded us that the climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all, and that intergenerational solidarity is not optional.  We call on world leaders to act urgently and courageously for an ambitious Paris Agreement implementation that protects God’s creation and people. As all of us are impacted, so must we all be responsible for addressing this global challenge. 

“At COP30, countries, along with civil society organizations and corporations, should recommit to implementation that: invests in adaptation efforts to create resilience and foster economic opportunities; commits to bold mitigation efforts that reduce climate warming emissions; pledges loss and damage financing that guarantees priority and direct access to vulnerable affected communities; ensures a just transition to a sustainable economy centered on workers, communities and creation; and makes financing for climate solutions, including debt relief, timely and transparent while at the same time upholding human dignity. Together, these actions can work towards integral ecology and ‘give priority to the poor and marginalized in the process.’

“We offer our prayers of support and solidarity and pledge to work collaboratively to safeguard the future of our common home.” 

Archbishop Borys Gudziak is chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan is chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. As president and CEO of CRS, Mr. Callahan leads the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the United States.