A few months before the VI General Assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), to be held in March 2026, the Amazon once again challenges the world as one of the key territories for understanding the present and future of humanity. In this context, Marcelo Lemos, Executive Secretary of CEAMA, offers a profound reflection on the climate crisis, the world of work, and the paths of hope that are opening up from a perspective of integral ecology and synodality.
With a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology from the Complutense University of Madrid and in Development, Society, and International Cooperation from the University of Brasilia, Marcelo Lemos combines a solid academic background with extensive pastoral and social experience with Amazonian communities, indigenous peoples, migrants, and ecclesial organizations.
A decisive moment for the Amazon
Ahead of the VI General Assembly, Lemos emphasizes that the Amazon is going through a decisive cycle. Recent processes—COP30, the Meeting of Bishops of the Amazon in 2025, the six years of CEAMA’s existence, and the visit of its Presidency to the Holy Father Leo XIV—confirm a shared urgency: the Amazon is reaching a tipping point.
From his experience in the territories, the Executive Secretary of CEAMA insists that the message the Amazon offers to the world is clear and universal: there will be no common future without a new civilizational pact, where life, justice, and care for our Common Home are translated into real decisions. The Amazonian peoples, he affirms, have already shown concrete ways to face the climate crisis based on a deep respect for their territories and knowledge.
Spirituality, conversion, and integral ecology
Six years after the creation of CEAMA, Lemos recognizes a profound change in the way the Amazonian Church approaches the climate crisis. Spirituality, far from being an accessory element, has become a language of life that transforms the understanding of ecology. Recognizing the forest as a living being and not just a resource challenges both communities and institutional structures.
This experience has led to the understanding that technical responses are not enough. The ecological crisis requires a personal and collective conversion, capable of generating a new ethic of relationship with the earth and with the peoples who inhabit it.
Beyond declarations: courageous decisions
Faced with persistent deforestation and the limits of international commitments, Marcelo Lemos stresses the need for courageous political decisions. The Amazon needs effective territorial protection, the dismantling of the global economic chains that fuel destruction, and the strengthening of sustainable economies that allow communities to live with dignity without damaging the forest.
In this regard, he reminds us that community participation is not optional: those who inhabit the territory have known and cared for it for generations. He also insists on the validity of the concept of “ecological debt,” understood as the memory of the planet, which particularly challenges the countries and economies that have contributed most to the climate crisis.
The future of work in the Amazon
One of the central themes of Lemos’ reflection is the world of work in the face of climate change. The ecological transition, he warns, can become an opportunity or a new factor of exclusion, depending on whether it is built from within the territories or imposed from outside.
Based on CEAMA’s experience, three priorities stand out: promoting decent employment that respects the rhythms of the forest, fostering a community bioeconomy that combines tradition and innovation, and creating opportunities for Amazonian youth, thereby avoiding forced migration. In this regard, dialogue with the global labor world is key, as labor and ecology are deeply intertwined.
Social doctrine of the Church and shared hope
Marcelo Lemos points out that the social doctrine of the Church offers fundamental principles for this path: work understood as a vocation and participation in creation, the universal destination of goods, solidarity, subsidiarity, and care for our common home.
These principles, lived out in synodality, allow us to imagine models of development that serve life and not extractive logic.
Finally, the Executive Secretary of CEAMA sends a message of hope to those who defend the Amazon: you are not alone. Every gesture of care, whether in the Amazonian territories or elsewhere in the world, is part of the same fabric of life and commitment. CEAMA, he affirms, will continue to walk alongside communities, churches, and organizations, sustaining a hope that is born in the territory and projected to the world.
The interview with Marcelo Lemos was originally published in the magazine A Hombros de Trabajadores, No. 26, January 2026, in print and digital versions.