BRUSSELS / ROME / DUBLIN, 30 September 2026 — Following severe heatwaves and wildfires that cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands across Europe, a coalition of 81 Christian organisations has issued a joint appeal urging EU leaders to accelerate fossil fuel phase-out and “lead by example in protecting the most vulnerable” ahead of COP31 in Antalya.
In their joint letter to the European Commission President, Vice President, Climate Commissioner, and the European Parliament delegation to COP31, the coalition draws on Pope Leo XIV’s warning before COP30: “Creation is crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat… One in three people live in great vulnerability because of these climate changes. To them, climate change is not a distant threat, and to ignore these people is to deny our shared humanity.”
Led by the eight members of the European Laudato Si’ Alliance (ELSiA)—including Laudato Si’ Movement, CIDSE, Caritas Europa, JESC and Pax Christi International—the appeal is backed by over 70 Christian organisations supporting the “Europe Be Faithful for Our Common Home” campaign, including the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN), the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM), several Jesuit Provinces, Secours Catholique-Caritas France, the Catholic Guides and Scouts in Italy (AGESCI), the Association of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI), Cordaid and Christians for Future.
To deliver real progress at COP31, the coalition calls on the EU to champion key priorities:
- A Binding Roadmap for Fossil Fuel Phase-Out: Echoing Pope Francis’ call for fossil fuel phase-out in Laudate Deum (2023), ELSiA urges the EU to commit to a clear, binding roadmap —phasing out coal by 2030, gas by 2035, and oil by 2040—while ending fossil fuel subsidies and stopping new exploration permits.
- Electrification Based on Renewables, Energy Efficiency and Sufficiency: As COP31 President Türkiye proposes an electrification target of 35% by 2035, ELSiA stresses that electrification must rely strictly on renewables and energy efficiency, while also avoiding “extractivism”. The coalition adds that “sufficiency” must become central to EU policies: reducing overall energy demand, rather than fuelling unsustainable consumption.
- A Socially Just Transition: Building on June’s climate talks in Bonn (SB64), the coalition demands a strong Just Transition Mechanism at COP31 and calls on the EU to prioritise funding for a socially just transition in the next EU budget, strictly applying the ‘do no significant harm’ principle.
- Increased Funding for Climate Finance: The group calls for adaptation finance to be tripled by 2035, and for public grants to urgently replenish the critically underfunded Loss and Damage Fund, to meet the growing needs of communities bearing the heaviest brunt of the climate crisis.
- Food Sovereignty & Agroecology: While food systems account for a third of global emissions, they receive less than 3% of climate finance. The coalition urges EU leaders to break the current deadlock and establish clear goals for resilient, agroecological food systems at COP31.
Quotes:
Lorna Gold, Executive Director of Laudato Si’ Movement, said: “Together with 80 Christian organisations across Europe, we raise our voices to call for EU climate leadership ahead of COP31.
“It is vital that progress made on fossil fuel phase-out at the Santa Marta conference continues through COP31 and beyond. As a grassroots coalition representing the voices of faith-based communities, we urge the EU to use its political influence at COP31 to lead the charge on phasing out fossil fuels and protecting the most vulnerable. Europe, our eyes are on you. But we are also by your side, calling on you to ‘Be Faithful to Our Common Home‘.”
Josianne Gauthier, Secretary General of CIDSE, said: “Climate justice starts with listening to those who are already bearing the heaviest burden of a crisis they did not create. Our partners in the Global South remind us that climate change is not an abstract challenge but a daily reality affecting people’s lives, livelihoods and dignity. Europe has both the responsibility and the opportunity to lead at COP31 by putting solidarity, sufficiency and the needs of the most vulnerable at the centre of its decisions.”
Emmanuelle Huet, Ecology Advocacy Officer at JESC, said: “At a time when the climate agenda is facing setbacks, both internationally and at home, we call on the EU to take a firm and courageous stance at COP31: to turn the commitments made at previous COPs into implementation and change, accompanied by the necessary financing.”
Signatory organisations include European and national faith-based institutions, including episcopal bodies, religious orders, social and environmental NGOs, international development charities, and Christian movements and communities.
Laudato Si’ Movement, Caritas Europa, CIDSE, Jesuit European Social Centre (JESC), Justice & Peace Europe, Pax Christi International, Don Bosco International, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe, Secours Catholique – Caritas France, the Catholic Guides and Scouts in Italy (AGESCI), the Integral Ecology Department of the Spanish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Cordaid (Netherlands), KOO (Austria), FEC – Faith and Cooperation Foundation (Portugal), the Association of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI), New Humanity/Focolare Movement, European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) and over 60 others.
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Media Contact:
Maria Chiara De Lorenzo
Laudato Si’ Movement Europe Communications Officer
+39 349 5843084
Notes to the Editor:
- Read the full text and see all 81 signatories of the open letter to the European Commission President, Vice President, Climate Commissioner, and the European Parliament delegation to COP31, entitled ‘A faith-based appeal for European leadership at COP31‘.
- The European Laudato Si’ Alliance (ELSiA) is a network of Catholic organisations working together to bring the encyclical letter Laudato Si’ to life. Founded in 2019, it is currently composed of eight members. They are: Caritas Europa, CIDSE, Don Bosco International, Jesuit European Social Centre, Justice and Peace Europe, Laudato Si’ Movement, New Humanity NGO (Focolare), Pax Christi International, and COMECE as an observer. ELSiA intends to promote ecological justice and the social teaching of the Church as a shared and coordinated commitment of Catholic Alliances.
- About the ‘Europe Be Faithful for Our Common Home’ Campaign: ‘Europe, Be Faithful for Our Common Home’ is a pan-European campaign coordinated by the Laudato Si’ Movement and backed by over 170 Catholic and Christian organizations, representing over 33.1 million citizens across 22 EU countries.