The Vatican and other Catholic groups sent representatives to join the 23,000 delegates at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Colombia.
Delegations from nearly 200 countries attended the conference this week, two years after the announcement of a global agreement to halt and reverse rapid planetary biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.
The 12-day 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference – known as COP16 – opened in Cali, in southwest Colombia, on 21 October, focusing on on the implementation and progress of countries in meeting targets agreed at COP15 in 2022. There, the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework set out long-term goals for the planet’s biodiversity, most to be achieved by 2050. However, 30 per cent of lands and waters need urgent action by 2030 for preservation.
The apostolic nuncio to Colombia and a group of lay academics from the Jesuit University of Javeriana were due to attend as a Vatican delegation on 29-30 October.
The Faiths for Biodiversity coalition, to which many of the Catholic groups belong, urged countries to deliver clear and ambitious signs of implementation. Columban Missionaries, a member of the coalition, were based at a “Faith Hub” in Cali.
Amy Echeverria attended COP16 for the Columbans. Credit: Columban Missionaries
Amy Echeverria, the US-based Columban International Coordinator for Justice, Peace, and Ecology, attended the conference. She said the coalition was “monitoring how countries are updating their National Biodiversity Action Plans to be in line with the framework”.
Speaking to The Tablet, Echeverria said: “Midway through the negotiations, the voices of indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth and faith are strong and clear. Our faith contingent is bigger than ever and our synergies with the other civil society constituencies are deeper than ever.
She continued: “Even as countries continue to struggle to find consensus, civil society is getting on with the work to care for the world’s cultural and biological diversity. While we hope for the best, regardless of outcomes at COP16, we will not be deterred.”
Coalition members met the executive secretary for the Convention on Biological Diversity, Astrid Schomaker.
Faith coalition delegates meeting Astrid Schomaker, centre. Credit: Columban Missionaries
The UN Environment Programme’s “Faith For Earth” initiative has estimated that religious communities globally oversee 8 per cent of habitable lands and 5 per cent of commercial forests. A report from the coalition recommended greater collaboration with faith groups and more technical and financial support to faith-led biodiversity projects.
The Colombian bishops and the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM) presented a statement to the conference, offering “joint reflections on the Church’s commitment to our Common Home” according to Bishop Juan Carlos Barreto of Soacha, head of Caritas Colombia.
Pax Christi International and the Laudato Si Movement were among other organisations participating and hosting the 21 side events organised by Catholic campaign groups, which also held prayer and meditation daily.
REPAM – the Catholic Church network supported by Caritas that promotes the rights and dignity of people living in the Amazon – planned a side event on indigenous peoples’ rights and biodiversity in Amazonia in the light of Laudato Si’.
Caritas in El Salvador highlighted the dangers facing environmental defenders. The Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace and Passionists International were to participate in a side event on “Mining, Water and Biodiversity”.
On Tuesday the Faith Hub hosted a session on links between biodiversity and the climate crisis, led by the World Council of Churches. A Rocha International also led a session this week on “Faith, Nature and Peace”, and the World Council of Churches (WCC) led discussions on links between biodiversity and the climate crisis,
“We are advocating for solutions that honour the interconnectedness of creation and recognise biodiversity as a cornerstone of ecological and human resilience,” said the WCC’s general secretary Dr Jerry Pillay.
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