“Without the COPs, the world would be lost”: Fr. Roberto Jaramillo argues for Jesuit engagement across all three zones

Speaking from the Jesuit Secretariat for Social Justice and Ecology in Rome, he outlines a coordinated plan toward COP30, urges pre-COP influence on NDCs, and stresses four priorities: debt relief, a stronger loss-and-damage mechanism, a just energy transition, and food systems grounded in sovereignty and agroecology.

Belém (Brazil)/Rome — “Without the COPs, the world would be lost… We cannot give up being there.” In an interview with Casa Comum (Rádio Amar e Servir), Fr. Roberto Jaramillo, SJ described how the Universal Society of Jesus is organizing a coordinated presence at COP30 across the Blue Zone, Green Zone, and the broader people’s spaces. He called for a stance that is critical yet constructive, capable of influencing negotiations with technical, political, financial, and legal arguments.

For the Jesuit, the decisive window for the Blue Zone is now, in the pre-COP months as countries finalize their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Because positions arrive pre-cooked in Belém, the Secretariat launched an online mechanism that sends customized letters to heads of state, environment ministers and lead negotiators, urging four shared calls endorsed with religious congregations worldwide: fair debt relief/restructuring; a strengthened and transparent loss-and-damage facility; a just energy transition attentive to cultural, historical and moral dimensions of land/resource use; and food systems that respect food sovereignty and agroecology.

Jaramillo cautions against “amazonizing” the COP. While acknowledging deforestation, cattle expansion, agrochemicals and desertification in the region, he notes that “climate impacts are far more severe in other parts of the world than in the Amazon.” The point, he argues, is a universal lens that does not diminish local mobilization and that learns from — and offers to — other hard-hit territories in Africa and Asia.

Responding to critiques about “false solutions” and capture by corporate interests, he rejects writing off the process: “Many advances were only possible because of the COPs,” he said, referencing the Paris Agreement. The Jesuit vocation, he insists, is to build bridges: “Engage with data and workable proposals — not only with slogans — so we become a credible voice at the table.”

He also shared early findings from a 2024 global survey on the fourth Universal Apostolic Preference (collaborating in the care for our common home): around 39% of institutions and communities responded — 1,398 cases mapped — showing progress in infrastructure adaptation (solar/wind, water and waste management, green roofs), teaching and knowledge production in schools and universities, and gaps in movement engagement, advocacy and support to affected populations. The Secretariat is publishing both successful and failed experiences on its website, together with policy briefs on the four calls and the letter tool.

Closing the interview, he returned to the spiritual core: “Transforming our common home depends on personal attitudes consistent with our message.” Ahead of COP30, he invites religious and lay collaborators to sign the letters, host roundtables with national negotiators and reach Belém with politically feasible proposals — staying present on the streets, in public events and inside the negotiations.

Source: RÁDIO AMAR E SERVIR