The Brazilian Conference of Religious (CRB) held the virtual meeting “Religious Life in Mission and Commitment to COP30, Indigenous Peoples, and Life Under Threat”, a space for reflection that brought together religious men and women and individuals committed to the care of creation to explore the prophetic role of Religious Life in the face of the socio-environmental and climate crisis.
The broadcast brought together Frei Rodrigo Peret, OFM, advisor to the Special Commission for Integral Ecology and Mining of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB); Joana D’Arc Ferreira de Lima, regional coordinator of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM); and Chief Abias Suruí, an indigenous leader of the Suruí people, who shared reflections on the challenges facing the Amazon and the Church’s commitment to the defense of life.
Integral Ecology as a Priority for Religious Life
In opening the meeting, the CRB recalled that one of the priorities of Religious Life in Brazil is to prophetically cultivate integral ecology in all dimensions of mission, especially alongside indigenous peoples and traditional communities.
The president of the CRB, Sister Maria do Desterro, called for strengthening a spirituality committed to life and to the legacy left by Pope Francis.
“We are called to follow the Lord’s paths on these great journeys, sharing life, mission, and commitment to our Common Home,” she said.
The opening prayer was inspired by a campaign on caring for the Earth that invited participants to recognize that “everything is interconnected” and that the commitment to climate justice begins in daily life, by promoting simpler, more supportive, and sustainable lifestyles.
The climate crisis is also an ethical and spiritual crisis
In his lecture, Friar Rodrigo Peret noted that humanity is facing a crisis far deeper than an environmental emergency.
“We are not merely experiencing a climate crisis; we are experiencing a civilizational, ethical, spiritual, and political crisis that reveals the exhaustion of a development model based on the exploitation of the planet and the common goods,” he stated.
The friar noted that holding COP30 in the Amazon represents a historic milestone, but he insisted that true transformation will not depend solely on international agreements.
“The response to the climate crisis will not arise solely from official documents or negotiations between governments. It will depend on humanity’s ability to transform its relationship with creation, with others, and with God,” he maintained.
Inspired by the teachings of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, he recalled that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor are part of the same reality.
“There are not two separate crises; there is a single, complex socio-environmental crisis that requires a comprehensive response,” he noted.
Four Challenges for the Post-COP30 Era
During his remarks, Frei Rodrigo proposed four challenges that, in his view, will shape the commitment of the Church and religious life after COP30.
The first is not to place all hope in international agreements, but rather to strengthen the participation of peoples, communities, and social movements.
He warned that, while climate negotiations continue, deforestation, river pollution, and the expulsion of communities from their territories continue to advance.
In this context, he advocated for a “multilateralism of the peoples,” built from the ground up and by those who have historically been excluded from decision-making spaces.
The second challenge is to critically discern the so-called “false solutions” to the climate crisis.
He questioned proposals based exclusively on carbon markets, environmental offsets, or financial mechanisms that turn nature into a commodity.
“Creation is not a commodity. The earth is a gift. Water is a gift. Life is a gift,” he affirmed.
A Just Energy Transition
The third challenge raised by the Franciscan friar was to critically analyze the energy transition model being promoted globally.
While acknowledging the need to phase out fossil fuels, he warned that the growing demand for strategic minerals—such as lithium, copper, nickel, and rare earth elements—is driving a new wave of mining expansion into indigenous territories and traditional communities.
“We will not solve the climate crisis by intensifying extraction. We will not build climate justice by creating new sacrifice zones,” he stated.
In this regard, he called on religious life to stand alongside threatened communities and those defending the Amazon against new extractive models.
Walking alongside Indigenous Peoples
As a fourth challenge, Friar Rodrigo insisted that the Church must strengthen its alliance with Indigenous peoples.
He recalled that for centuries their knowledge was disregarded, whereas today it represents an indispensable resource for addressing the ecological crisis.
“Indigenous peoples do not represent the past; they point the way to the future,” he affirmed.
He added that the defense of indigenous territories is an essential condition for protecting biodiversity, stabilizing the climate, and ensuring the future of humanity.
“Defending indigenous territories means defending the rainforest. Defending the rainforest means defending the climate. Defending the climate means defending life,” he said.
He also urged us to recognize that nature cannot be reduced to a financial asset, but rather constitutes a community of life based on relationships of care, reciprocity, and balance.
The Amazon Demands a Prophetic Response
Also participating throughout the meeting were Joana D’Arc Ferreira de Lima, who shared the experience of Amazonian communities in building alternatives to address the climate crisis, and Chief Abias Suruí, who reaffirmed the importance of defending indigenous territories as a prerequisite for ensuring the survival of future generations.
The broadcast concluded by reaffirming that preparations for COP30 cannot be limited to a diplomatic process but rather represent an opportunity to strengthen ecological conversion, synodality, and the Church’s commitment to the Amazonian peoples.
From this perspective, Religious Life in Brazil renewed its call to walk alongside Indigenous peoples, strengthen socio-environmental justice, and promote a spirituality that makes the Gospel visible through care for our Common Home, in harmony with the process promoted by the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) and the various ecclesial networks committed to a Church with an Amazonian face.