On 7 October 2025, the European Laudato Si’ Alliance (ELSiA) sent an open letter to European Union leaders — President Ursula von der Leyen, Vice President Teresa Ribera, Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, and Members of the European Parliament Maria da Graça Carvalho Pereira and Mohammed Chahim — urging bold and compassionate EU leadership at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
The letter, titled “A Faith-Based Appeal for Justice and Action: EU Climate Leadership at COP30,” reaffirms the shared vocation of ELSiA members to care for creation and promote global climate justice in line with the spirit of Laudato Si’. It calls on the European Union to strengthen its climate ambition by accelerating the phase-out of fossil fuels, submitting an ambitious new NDC ahead of COP30, and ensuring a just transition that prioritises workers, marginalised communities, and Indigenous peoples.
ELSiA also urges the EU to enhance support for climate adaptation, loss and damage, and debt relief for vulnerable countries, emphasising the moral responsibility of industrialised nations to act with justice and solidarity.
The letter concludes with a call for the EU to bring courage, compassion, and leadership to COP30 — transforming this moment into a turning point for care for our common home and the most vulnerable.
You can read the full letter below.
We, as members of the European Laudato Si Alliance (ELSiA), reaffirm our shared vocation to care for creation and to advance global climate justice.
Guided by Laudato Si’, the spirit of Pope Francis and Pope Leo’s pastoral approach, we see COP30 in Belém as a kairos moment for bold and compassionate EU leadership—one that honours both humanity and our common home. We call upon you, President von der Leyen, to embody this vocation through a deeply committed EU presence at COP30 – both at the High-Level-Segment and within the negotiations – upholding the moral imperative of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, achieving net-zero by 2050, and ensuring a fossil fuel phase out while considering energy poverty and a just transition.
Rooted in the Church’s social teaching, we also echo the prophetic voice of our bishops from the Global South, whose recent appeals urge an end to fossil dependence and a rejection of false solutions. With this letter, we raise not only the perspectives of ELSiA members, but also the urgent moral appeals of our sisters and brothers from the Global South to the heart of the European Union.
Accelerating fossil fuel phase-out and strengthening EU climate commitments
We are assured the EU can demonstrate moral and political leadership by accelerating the elimination of coal, oil, and gas, and phasing out all fossil fuel subsidies equitably, ensuring that transitional support does not delay overall ambition.
The European Union must submit an ambitious new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) ahead of COP30, which can inspire other countries to phase out fossil fuels and accelerate progress towards Net Zero. Setting an adequate 2035 target in the EU’s NDC requires coupling it with a robust 2040 climate target and ensuring legislative backing. Standing in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Global South, we reiterate our call for EU climate neutrality by 2040, reflecting historical responsibility and true climate justice. The NDC must go beyond current statements of intent, directly linking it to the 2040 target, and address the ambition gap by including phase-out timelines. We stress that opening the 2040 target to international credits undermines fairness and a just transition.
The urgent need for a people-centred just transition
A just transition must prioritise those most at risk both locally and globally: workers in fossil fuel-dependent sectors, marginalised communities and Indigenous peoples. We urge the EU to ensure concrete, well-resourced support, retraining programmes, and support for social protections at EU level. The EU must push for the rapid implementation of the Just Transition Work Programme to establish a mechanism that guides countries on how to implement policies that protect workers, create green jobs, and invest in communities that are dependent on carbon-intensive industries.
We call for a just transition to renewable energy in a way that is fair, inclusive and leaves no one behind in local communities where critical raw materials are found. The EU should champion the adoption of principles, safeguards and an international action plan to promote decent work, social protection, and inclusive social and economic dialogue. The just transition must be enabled by international cooperation, concrete partnerships and transformational coupling with efforts on SDG7 in developing countries. This is a critical responsibility we have towards our children and young people in particular, whose future is being severely affected by the growing climate crisis.
Climate justice, adaptation, and loss & damage
The EU has rightly emphasised adaptation and resilience. We urge that these efforts be scaled up and paired with robust climate finance within UNFCCC financing mechanisms for vulnerable countries facing the worst impacts of the climate crisis. As highlighted by the Global South bishops, justice demands that industrialised nations increase technical and financial support for mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage according to the needs of vulnerable countries—recognising their ecological debt. We call on the EU to support the process towards a new global financing goal on adaptation. As well as providing increased and ongoing funding for loss and damage, we underline that a holistic approach to loss and damage is needed by incorporating non-economic factors, such as mental health.
In this Jubilee Year, we urge the EU to support sustainable solutions for the debt crisis, as part of broader multilateral efforts, addressing the current one and preventing future crises, which is vital to free up resources for low- and middle-income countries to invest in climate action.
In conclusion, with COP30 convening in Belém, the European Union stands at a critical juncture. The Amazon is not only the conference site but also the region where Indigenous communities are at the frontlines of the climate crisis. It is the place where global responsibility meets regional concern. COP30 should therefore not only be about climate diplomacy, but immediate action – to halt deforestation, uphold Indigenous rights, restore ecosystems and raise global climate ambition to protect the Amazon and indigenous communities.
We, the European Laudato Si’ Alliance – together with many secular and faith-based allies – appeal to you to bring courage, compassion and bold political and financial leadership to Belém. May this COP mark a turning point where care for creation and care for the most vulnerable guide global climate action.
We remain at your disposal for further dialogue and would welcome the opportunity to follow up on this letter in the coming weeks. Please do not hesitate to reach out should you wish to engage with ELSiA ahead of COP30.
With sincere respect and hope,
The European Laudato Si’ Alliance (ELSiA) is a network of Catholic organisations working together to bring the encyclical letter Laudato Si’ to life. Founded in 2019, it is currently composed of eight members. They are: Caritas Europa, CIDSE, COMECE, Don Bosco International, Jesuit European Social Centre, Justice and Peace Europe, Laudato Si’ Movement and Pax Christi International. ELSiA intends to promote ecological justice and the social teaching of the Church as a shared and coordinated commitment of Catholic Alliances.
Key References
CAFOD, KOO, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, SCIAF, and Caritas Zambia: Climate finance in the Jubilee Year. Accessed on https://www.cidse.org/2025/06/03/climate-finance-in-the-jubilee-year/
Catholic Episcopal Conferences and Councils of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean on the Occasion of COP30: A call for climate justice and the Common Home: Ecological conversion, transformation and resistance to false solutions. Accessed on https://secam.org/wp-content/uploads/ENG_The-Churches-Global-South-on-ocassion-of-COP30-1.pdf
Caritas Internationalis, NDCs for Hope. Accessed on https://www.caritas.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Caritas-Internationalis-NDCs-for-Hope.pdf
Global South Bishops Urge UN to Put Climate Justice at the Heart of COP30. Accessed on https://secam.org/global-south-bishops-urge-un-to-put-climate-justice-at-the-heart-of-cop30/
