The Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology

On the Road to COP30: ORCIE’s Journey to Belém, Brazil

The Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology (ORCIE) is proud to announce that from November 10 to 17, 2025, a delegation from ORCIE — Geneviève Gallant, Executive Director, and Sasquia Antúnez Pineda, Advocacy & Communications Officer — will join thousands of world leaders, civil society organizations, and faith-based advocates at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30).

ORCIE’s participation in COP30 reaffirms our commitment to climate justice and to the Global South’s moral call for recognition of ecological debt. By engaging Catholic networks, Canadian policymakers, and global partners, we seek to bring these voices into Canada’s climate conversation and inspire action grounded in justice and care for creation.

Our work at COP30

During the conference, the ORCIE delegation will:

  • Work in close collaboration with Sister Eliana Aparecida dos Santos of the Congregation of St. Joseph in Brazil, who is graciously hosting us and participating alongside us in COP30 events.
  • Attend key UNFCCC side events and CAN-Rac working group meetings following negotiation streams on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), adaptation, and climate finance.
  • Engage Canadian government delegates on issues of ecological debt, loss and damage, and fair financing for global climate action.
  • Gather stories and perspectives from faith and civil society partners in the Global South for our Global South Voices project.
  • Participate in the People’s Summit and Day of Action events, amplifying messages of solidarity, faith, and ecological justice.

Highlight: ORCIE Staff Will Join COP30 Panel on Global South Bishops’ Call for Climate Justice

We are proud to share that ORCIE staff member, Sasquia Antúnez Pineda, a Honduran-Canadian with lived experience across the Global South and North, will speak on the second panel of the side event “Responding to the Global South Catholic Bishops Conferences’ Call for Climate Justice” on Tuesday, November 11, from 4:45–6:15 p.m. (3:45–5:15 p.m. ET) in the Blue Zone.The event will explore the joint statement A Call for Climate Justice and the Common Home, from the Catholic Bishops Conferences of Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean released in June 12, 2025, which calls on the Global North to recognize its ecological debt, phase out fossil fuels, and resist false solutions to the climate crisis.

Drawing on her bi-national perspective and her work on ecological debt, Sasquia will reflect on how insights from Global South civil society can inform Canadian faith-based advocacy, connecting the Bishops’ moral appeal to ORCIE’s work for ecological justice and Canada’s responsibility to act in solidarity for our common home.

Why we’re going

“COP30 is an opportunity for ORCIE to stand in solidarity with the people of the Global South—those most affected by ecological breakdown yet least responsible for it. We will represent the voices of our Catholic religious congregation members and amplify their call for climate justice.”

Geneviève Gallant

ORCIE Executive Director
“By witnessing the negotiations firsthand, we can bring back grounded insights and lived experiences that will give weight and authenticity to ORCIE’s advocacy in Canada. The connections and stories we gather in Belém will inform our briefings, media work, and legislative engagement well into 2026.”

Sasquia Antúnez Pineda

Advocacy & Communications Officer

Carrying the momentum home

The insights and relationships built at COP30 will directly shape ORCIE’s spring legislative advocacy with the federal government, grounding our policy recommendations on Canada’s Nationally Determined Contributions, climate finance, and Loss and Damage commitments in lived experience and moral perspectives from the Global South.

Through post-COP reports, presentations and media, ORCIE will share lessons and reflections with our member congregations and supporters across Canada.

Stay updated on our COP30 journey—follow ORCIE on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/orcie.org

Save the date! Join us on February 12, 2026, at 1 PM EST for ORCIE’s Post-COP30 Reflections Webinar — where we’ll share insights, stories, and next steps for legislative advocacy in Canada.

The UN annual summit COP30 will be held in the Amazon, in the city of Belém. Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/COP30 Amazônia/PR)