Bishop John Arnold, Bishop of Salford and Lead Bishop for the Environment for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has issued the following statement as COP31 gets underway in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the United Nations’ annual meeting held to assess progress in dealing with climate change.
“The participants of the 31st COP UN climate change summit are meeting in Antalya, Türkiye at a time of rising international tensions. As I noted during the season of creation: ‘Each month, the cycle of violence in our world seems to become ever-more intense. Deaths in armed conflicts are at their highest levels for a generation.’ Conflict not only directly exacerbates the climate crisis by creating carbon emissions, but it also provides a troubling backdrop to COP31 given the degree of international co-operation that is necessary for action to be effective. However, as Pope Leo noted in his recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, the climate crisis is at the root of so many other crises in the world, and so it must be addressed. And the UK must play its part.
“Extreme weather is intensifying. Over the past year, we witnessed record-breaking temperatures, contributing to droughts, wildfires and other climate-related disasters. These are stark warnings of a future in which the conditions that sustain life and enable creation to flourish are increasingly under threat.
“At this COP meeting, in the words of the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, we need to move beyond sending signals and, instead, ‘supercharge solutions’ and break down existing global targets and national plans into concrete steps which will lead to action.
“Indeed, we must applaud the effective action that is being taken in many parts of the world to reduce emissions. But action should be accelerated, and richer countries should provide support for poorer nations who suffer most from climate change but contributed least to historical emissions. (Laudato si’, 51-52)
“I call upon the UK government to show real leadership at COP31, so that, in these challenging times, everything possible will be done to unite countries behind effective action to address climate change.
“I also ask Catholics in England and Wales to pray for the success of COP31 – to pray that action will be taken both to reduce carbon emissions and to ensure that the burden of reducing emissions is borne in a just way.”
