Church and civil organizations in Spanish society demand a “Moral Revolution” at COP 30: They call for “an end to fossil fuels” and “payment of the ecological debt.”

Ahead of the Climate Change Summit in Belém (Brazil) on Monday, November 10, an initiative led by Catholic organizations inspired by the papal encyclical Laudato Si', joined by civil society organizations committed to the goals of combating climate change and complying with the Paris Agreement, are urging governments to abandon "empty promises," accelerate the ecological transition, and adopt an "integral ecology" that prioritizes the poor and the planet. 

Madrid, Spain. On the eve of the historic Climate Summit (COP 30) in Bethlehem, an initiative by influential social organizations today launched a strong message to world leaders, calling the climate crisis a "moral emergency" that demands radical and immediate action. 

The numerous points of convergence on climate justice between the ecclesial world (inspired by the encyclical Laudato Si') and the non-confessional world come together in this initiative, in which the organizations signing the declaration want to send a message denouncing the disappointing gap between climate promises and scientific reality. These organizations warn that current plans are "insufficient" and are leading the world toward disastrous warming, which represents a moral failure that punishes poor and vulnerable nations most harshly. 

"The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one cry," said the network's spokesperson. "We cannot build a green future by repeating the injustice of exploitation. COP 30 in Belém must be the place where the world chooses life over profit, and solidarity over indifference. The time for excuses is over." 

The call focuses on three pillars of climate justice:

1. Justice in Action: End the fossil fuel era. Organizations are demanding real commitments that go beyond empty goals. The main demand is a clear, binding, and fair timetable for the phase-out of all fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas). They insist that rich countries and the biggest emitters have a moral and legal obligation to lead this transition and stop global deforestation.

2. Justice in the transition: Protect people, not just the planet. The message warns that the ecological transition cannot create new forms of poverty. A just transition is demanded that guarantees social protection and decent jobs. This includes a transformation of food systems, demanding an end to subsidies for fossil fuels and polluting industrial agriculture and, instead, direct support for agroecology and indigenous communities and the women and men who cultivate the land and feed the world sustainably. 

3. Justice in finance and taxation: Paying the ecological debt. The network emphasizes that rich nations have an "ecological debt" to the Global South. To settle this debt, they demand that climate finance be new, additional, and delivered as grants (donations), not as loans that increase the debt of impoverished countries. They make an urgent call to fill the Loss and Damage Fund and propose the cancellation of the debt of the most vulnerable nations (a "climate jubilee" in the words of church organizations), thus freeing up resources for climate action. Without fair taxation ordered to the common good and global solidarity, there will be no fair finance to find the necessary resources worldwide for this action. 

The full message calls on global citizens to demand accountability from their leaders, concluding that history will judge the leaders of COP30 by their ability to protect human dignity and the common good. 

About the initiative of church and civil organizations. The initiative, convened by the Department of Integral Ecology of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, is made up of Caritas Spain, CONFER, ECODES, Greenpeace Spain, Justice and Peace, Manos Unidas, Laudato Si' Movement Spain, Christian Rural Movement, REDES, and more than twenty diocesan commissions on integral ecology in Spain. In the case of church organizations, these are organizations that work to promote integral ecology and climate justice, inspired by the Social Doctrine of the Church and the encyclical Laudato Si'. 

Press contact: Eduardo Agosta, O. Carm., Director of the Department of Integral Ecology of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, ecologiaintegral@conferenciaepiscopal.es, mobile: +34 600 91 45 78