By Minaz Kerawala, Development and Peace-Caritas Canada

[Belém, Brazil – DPCC Media Release] – After two weeks of discussions, meetings and mobilization, Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada (DPCC) concludes its participation in COP30 by reaffirming its commitment to fair and solidarity-based climate action focused on the communities most affected by the climate crisis.

The delegation, comprising members of the DPCC national council, staff and union, took part in several key events that showcased the strength of initiatives led by civil society, social movements and the Church in Brazil.

COP30 Joint Declaration by Bishops, Religious Orders, and Organizations from around the World – LINK

A strong Church presence: symposium, synodality and ecumenical alliances

DPCC joined long-time networks and partners, participating as a member of the collective delegation of CIDSE (Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité), collaborating with Canadian Jubilee partners KAIROS and ORCIE (Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology), engaging Canadian civil society through CAN-RAC (Climate Action Network Canada-RéseauAction Climat Canada) and AQOCI (Quebec Association of Organizations for International Cooperation) and working closely with other Caritas organizations.

Members of the delegation participated in a symposium entitled The Catholic Church in the COP, organized by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), a space for reflecting on the role of the Church in the face of the climate emergency.

The delegation also took part in the ecumenical and inter-religious Tapiri (a symbolic space for meeting, welcoming and dialogue), which was a spiritual moment uniting different religious traditions in the defence of our common home.

A record number of cardinals, bishops, and Catholic actors and organizations intervened in COP30 and the Peoples’ Summit, showing the strong commitment of the Catholic Church to confronting climate change.

The panels and meetings with synodal Catholic movements and the collective work of churches, institutions and organizations promoting ecological justice led to a joint declaration.

A renewed commitment to amplify the voices of the Global South

During COP30 and the Peoples’ Summit, DPCC met with partners from grassroots movements, small farms and communities on the ground in Brazil. They repeatedly expressed that they were excluded from decision-making spaces, that they were not consulted on financial decisions that directly affected them and that they were fed up with false solutions to climate change. Instead of “green capitalism,” they want a truly just transition and a change in our consumption and production patterns to promote a more respectful way of living together and with the Earth.

Throughout, DPCC carried a clear message: climate action must address global inequalities and balance the ecological debt owed to the countries of the Global South.

“What we saw and heard at COP30 is an urgent call to action. Communities in the Global South are showing us not only the impacts of the climate crisis but also paths of resistance and hope. We will continue to work harder than ever to make their voices and stories heard,” delegation members said.

DPCC will also remain involved in the global Turn Debt into Hope campaign, which calls for just solutions to both the financial debt owed by countries of the Global South and the ecological debt owed to peoples most affected by climate change, and which urges global decision-makers to listen to the voice of the people instead of prioritizing profit.

Highlights of DPCC participation during COP30:

• Panel in the Blue Zone – Responding to the Global South Catholic Bishops Conferences’ Call for Climate Justice: Bishop Jon Hansen of Mackenzie-Fort Smith Diocese, a member of DPCC’s national council and the anglophone representative of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and research and advocacy officer Dean Dettloff, emphasized the prophetic challenge and invitation of the Catholic Church in the Global South to form a historic north-south coalition to take action on climate change.
• Meeting with partners and allies – This meeting provided an opportunity to discuss realities on the ground, collaboration between church actors and social movements, local resistance and community solutions to climate impacts.
• 4th International Meeting of People Affected by Dams – The delegation heard testimonies about forced displacement, human rights violations and the destruction of ecosystems linked to hydroelectricity megaprojects.
• Peoples’ Summit – DPCC participated in the Peoples’ Summit’s, a forum for international mobilization. The Canadian Catholic organization co-hosted a Global Jubilee Dialogue workshop with KAIROS Canada and Taproot, in which more than 30 people from at least eight different social movements participated.
• Participation in a Government of Quebec panel – Quebec’s international climate cooperation: a decade of concrete solutions for a resilient future, was held at the Pavillon de la Francophonie, with DPCC participation.
• Mobilization March on Nov. 13 – The DPCC delegation joined more than 70,000 people in the global march for climate justice.
• Participation in a procession of the Virgem de Nazaré and Mass – The Mass celebrated the witness of martyrs, including Sr. Dorothy Strang and Chico Mendes, who gave their lives defending the planet and the poor.
• Community Visit – DPCC representatives visited a community where Indigenous peoples, quilombola members, and small farmers living on the fruits of the land live together and collectively protect their territory, to hear about the realities experienced by populations adversely affected by mining, carbon markets and climate change.

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Development and Peace – Caritas Canada is the official international development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada. It works in partnership with local organizations in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin American and the Middle East to create greater justice in the world and to act in solidarity with the most vulnerable people. 

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