USCCB, CRS call on world leaders to take ‘decisive action’ on climate change
November 07, 2026
The chairmen of two committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by the president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, called on world leaders who will gather at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) to take “decisive action that will protect and promote human flourishing and our common home.”
Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Maronite Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of Los Angeles, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace; and Sean Callahan of Catholic Relief Services said on November 6 that the “global Church continues to witness the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
“We accompany those most impacted by a changing climate and the resulting extreme weather, rising seas, and biodiversity loss,” they continued. “Young people in particular are leading this response, demanding climate justice for their generation and generations to come. Their witness is our hope: proof that our faith in action answers the hardest realities.”
Archbishop Fabre, Bishop Zaidan, and Callahan made the following requests:
- “We urge world leaders and institutions to deliver additional climate finance that prioritizes grants over loans so that poor countries can invest in resilience and adaptation without the weight of more debt.”
- “We implore negotiators to agree on how progress on adaptation will be measured within the Global Goal on Adaptation.”
- “We call on them to finalize a ‘just transition’ mechanism to accompany developing countries with expertise, cooperation, and funding as they move away from fossil fuels. This transition should center on protecting the dignity of every worker, family, and community affected.”
“We ask leaders to leave Antalya [Turkey] having matched the scale of their commitments to the scale of the need—and to remember, in every negotiating room, that behind every number is a family making difficult, daily decisions on survival amidst more extreme, erratic, and frequent climate shocks,” they concluded.
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