WASHINGTON – As world leaders gather for the 31st annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), the bishops who chair committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that address climate policy were joined by the president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to call on world leaders to decisively act to protect life on our common home.

Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, and Mr. Sean Callahan’s statement follows:

“As leaders gather at COP31, we recognize the need for decisive action that will protect and promote human flourishing and our common home. 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. 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.

“Pope Leo XIV expressed in his message last year to COP 30 attendees that God’s creation is ‘crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat,’ and that while nations have made progress, it is not enough. He also reminded us that it is not the Paris Agreement that is failing, but our collective response to it — and that to overlook communities most exposed to climate change is to deny our shared humanity.

“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.

“Echoing the call of our Holy Father, we ask leaders to leave Antalya 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.”

Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre is chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan is chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. As president and CEO of CRS, Mr. Callahan leads the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the United States.