Panel: FROM EXPLOITATION TO CONTEMPLATION: ETHICAL DISCERNMENT IN ECOLOGICAL CONTROVERSIES



1041.3 - BEYOND MORAL WITNESS: INTERRELIGIOUS ENGAGEMENT AND ETHICAL INFLUENCE IN CLIMATE GOVERNANCE AT COP30

AUTHORS:
Osnato S. (Università di Pisa, Università degli Studi di Ferrara ~ Pisa ~ Italy)
Text:
This paper analyzes interreligious engagement in international climate governance in the context of COP30 (Belém, 2025), focusing on the participation of diverse Christian confessions and Muslim communities within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). While international climate negotiations are formally grounded in scientific assessments and legal commitments, they increasingly confront ethical questions concerning responsibility, justice, and the moral limits of human action that cannot be adequately addressed through technical or juridical frameworks alone. The paper examines the expectations, hopes, and concrete proposals articulated by religious actors in the lead-up to and during COP30, as expressed in interreligious calls to action, denominational policy statements, and coordinated advocacy initiatives addressed to climate negotiators. Particular attention is devoted to critically assessing whether such religious engagement moved beyond largely symbolic forms of participation to generate identifiable outputs - such as formal submissions, side events, or recognized participatory spaces - and whether it translated into measurable outcomes in terms of institutional recognition, policy resonance, or influence on normative debates within the UNFCCC framework. From a theological and ethical perspective, interreligious dialogue is interpreted as a practice of ethical discernment capable of mediating between confessional traditions and the normative structures of international climate governance. By situating interreligious engagement at the intersection of theology, ethics, and international law, the paper argues that religious participation becomes significant only when expectations and proposals translate into tangible forms of influence, enabling a shift from moral witness toward genuine impact in global climate governance.