Prayer & Pacific leadership for climate justice at COP31

Following visits to Tuvalu and Fiji, Uniting Church President Rev Charissa Suli led morning prayers with Pacific partners at the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion as COP31 opened in Antalya.

On the first morning of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, Uniting Church in Australia President Rev Charissa Suli prayed what was shared inside the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion would carry well beyond its walls.

At the invitation of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Rev Suli led morning devotions and blessed the pavilion, asking that it be a place of welcome, wisdom and courageous conversation. She prayed that the stories told and commitments made there would help shape decisions that honour the dignity and futures of Pacific peoples.

Opening the pavillion, Rev Mata Havea Hiliau drew on Scripture as she led a reflection and prayer. She spoke of our shared responsibility to care for God’s creation and one another, and called for climate commitments to be put into action. Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, spoke about keeping Pacific voices central to the negotiations, pursuing the 1.5°C goal, recognising the connection between oceans and climate change, and improving access to climate finance for Pacific island nations. Music, dance and storytelling brought people together from across the region and beyond, celebrating the diversity of Pacific cultures.

From Funafuti and Nadi to Antalya

In September, President Rev Charissa Suli joined Pacific women leaders in Funafuti, Tuvalu, for the Tuākoi Lei regional gathering on faith, gender and climate. The Pacific Conference of Churches partnered with the Government of Tuvalu to convene the gathering, with hospitality from Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu. Local women spoke about water insecurity, pressure on food supplies and the risk of displacement. The gathering called for women to help shape climate decisions and for climate responses to address the safety of women and girls alongside food, water and shelter.

A month later, she joined Pacific church leaders at the ecumenical service marking the start of Pre-COP31 in Nadi, Fiji. Preaching from Romans 8, she spoke of creation groaning and waiting, and asked leaders to consider whose good their decisions serve. Pacific church leaders called for an end to fossil fuel expansion, accountability for climate loss and damage, and grants that reach communities directly. They also called for Indigenous elders, women, young people and people with disability to have a greater say in climate decisions.

Those calls give substance to the prayer offered in Antalya. For the Uniting Church, standing alongside our Pacific neighbours means listening to what communities say they need and supporting their leadership in the decisions that follow.

Standing alongside those carrying the work

In conversations with World Council of Churches colleagues, Rev Suli heard concerns about weakening political ambition, the influence of fossil fuel interests, misinformation and growing pressure on international cooperation. There was a shared conviction that churches should stay engaged. The conversation also turned to the pressures facing Pacific negotiators, especially emerging young women leaders, and the importance of recognising the knowledge and lived experience they already bring to the negotiating table.

President Rev Charissa Suli recalled a Pacific climate expert who found encouragement in ecumenical worship during Pre-COP in Fiji. For her, it was a reminder of the pastoral role churches can play alongside their advocacy. Prayer and worship give people carrying the demands of negotiations a place to pause and draw on their faith. At COP31, the Assembly’s engagement is part of a wider Christian witness that includes the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation and ACT Alliance, alongside partners from other faith traditions.

Listening to First Peoples and living our Covenant

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders shared how they are caring for Country and responding to climate change. They spoke about cultural fire management, drawing on knowledge held across generations and working alongside contemporary science to reduce emissions, protect biodiversity and create economic opportunities for Indigenous communities. They also spoke about passing that knowledge on to future generations.

Their accounts put land rights and self-determination at the heart of the conversation. Meaningful consultation, President Rev Charissa reflected, takes time. It depends on listening, building trust and recognising the authority of First Peoples to make decisions about their own futures.

For the Uniting Church, these reflections come back to our Covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. In her reflections from Antalya, Rev Charissa Suli asked, “Are we genuinely listening to First Peoples, respecting their leadership and supporting their right to determine their own futures?”

As negotiations continue in Antalya, we invite the Church to pray for those carrying this work, including the Pacific negotiators bringing the priorities of their communities to the table. May their leadership help shape the decisions made at COP31, and may what we hear from First Peoples deepen the way we live out our Covenant at home.