Raising Hope Climate Conference: 'Galvanising collective action and radical collaboration'

Brother Rodrigo and Rodne Galicia

As I head for home from the Laudato Si Movement's Climate Conference at Castel Gandolfo with my portion of liquid glacier in my 'Raising Hope' water bottle, meeting so many environmental activists inspired by faith will stay with me.

There was Franciscan Brother Rodrigo de Castro Peut, who works with the Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission in Minas Gerais State in Brazil. Tackling the destructive mining of huge mining companies is a priority. And the names of these companies we will recognise - BHP Billiton and Anglo-American, for example. New mineral discoveries have emerged in the state over the past decade, such as gold, bauxite and iron ore, and a particular surge is in lithium mining. Lithium is helping power the global shift to electric vehicles and renewable energy, but, as Brother Rodrigo says, "the mining companies control everything". The Church supports local communities who are being displaced and their lands destroyed, without any say as to whether they are willing to become "sacrifice communities" to the green transition. He felt there is insufficient discussion about the source of minerals for solar panels, for example. They too have an environmental and social cost. He urged Laudato Si' activists in Northern countries to explore how pension funds are often linked into the financing of large-scale mining, and he intends to lobby on the issue at Brazil's COP30 climate conference in six weeks' time.

This reminded me of the Glasgow COP26 in 2021, and when I first met Rodne Galicia from the Philippines. He was sitting in a street with a placard, protesting with indigenous people about extractive industries in a number of countries. And he was here at Castel Gandolfo. Now Executive Director of Laudato Si' Philippines, his life work is protecting the environment and promoting the message of Laudato Si', despite facing challenges from powerful interests. Note that the Philippines is one of the deadliest countries in the world for environmental activists. He's still a man with an ambitious mission. "I'm trying to save one million trees," Rodne told me. He has faced personal threats for protesting against a nickel mine in the central island of Sibuyan. "They just peel off the trees to get to the minerals," he reported, "with no regard for local people or the living environment." The imperative in Laudato Si' to "listen to the cry of Earth and the cry of the poor," is being implemented right there.

Bishop Gerardo Alimane Alminaza of San Carlos, Chair of the Laudato Si' Program of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, was also at the conference raising the same topic. He has led efforts to stop the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure threatening the Verde Island Passage, a place of incredible beauty and biodiversity in the Philippines, on which fisherfolk and farmers depend for their livelihoods. He was critical of funding from big financial institutions and called for international solidarity. I was so proud to stand beside him for a photo.

And so many more interesting people, inspired by Laudato Si', shared their mission in working groups, over shared meals and conversation opportunities. During one session in the main hall I sat with Meryne Warah of GreenFaith, an inter-faith organisation in Kenya. "We collaborate a lot with the Laudato Si Movement, especially in areas of training, supporting renewable energy and lobbying against fossil fuel investment," she said. Her contacts are international, for example with london-based Faith for the Climate. A Seventh-day Adventist, she was full of praise for the support from Pope Leo for climate action during his visit the previous day. "I am here because radical, collective action is necessary and I often see faith leaders dragging their feet," she said. Meryne described Pope Leo's presentation as "humbling and inspiring." Hadn't she flown a long way for a climate conference, I asked; "it is worth it to galvanise collective action and radical collaboration."

There was Nicolás Paz, Spain-based Director of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative of Pax Christi International, who said in another conversation that, "the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, it's a moral one, requiring bold alliances between churches, environmentalists, and local communities." He was at the conference because he believes in "weaving networks of action at every level."

Christine Mbithi, a Kenyan woman based in Vienna, works for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and attended the conference to raise further awareness about it. "I'm so pleased that our President, Kumi Naidoo, is a keynote speaker."

Argentinian priest Augusto Zampini-Davies, a moral theologian who was theological adviser to CAFOD before returning to his home country, told me he is now involved with the first Laudato Si' school in Argentina. The entire curriculum, finance, trips, waste are among the areas reviewed with reference to Laudato Si'. He hopes to export the process to more than 100 schools in his diocese of San Isidro.

A variety of singers and musicians who weaved music into the programme included Pacific Artists for Climate Justice. We learnt refrains such as: 'Come Creator Spirit, fill us with your love, Guide us on the narrow paths to heal our common home.' Also: 'We choose peace… we choose the way of peace.'

Our vision of Laudato Si' was deepened, particularly the concept of 'integral ecology'. Our commitment to more grassroots action and macro level advocacy - particularly at COP30 - was strengthened. And we were told that "the next era of Laudato Si' starts now."

Laudato Si' transformed the way Catholics and wider society understand our human place in creation. The Laudato Si' Movement, over the past 10 years, was described by Lorna Gold as "transforming a spark into a global flame." With its focus on caring for God's creation and raising hope, the conference stimulated participants to feel that hope is a courageous and collective choice that we will all be making.

Sitting beside a melting chunk of glacier, Pope Leo left us with a question: "God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that He created, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters. What will be our answer?"

LINK

Raising Hope Conference: https://raisinghope.earth/conference/