With a delegation of indigenous youth participating onsite and virtually, RAOEN brings indigenous voices from South Asia and Southeast Asia to the forthcoming UN climate summit, the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in Belém, Brazil from 10 to 21 November 2025.
The youth delegates include Mr Liang Ritchil from the Garo community (Diocese of Mymensingh, Bangladesh), Ms Simran Xaxa from the Oraon community and Mr Jiren Patras Tuti from the Munda community (both from the Diocese of Jamshedphur, India), Ms Eneriza Menaling from the Pulangiyēn community (Diocese of Malaybalay, Philippines), and Ms Imelda Soidi from the Dusun community (Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia).
From the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão (President), Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David (Vice-President), Bishop Allwyn D’Silva (Chair, Office of Human Development), and Father William LaRousse MM (Assistant Secretary General), are also joining COP30 events and sharing the message of the Catholic Church in the Global South. COP30 is a critical global platform to communicate the Church’s commitment to climate justice and to call nations and governments to action, in line promoting an integral ecology and Laudato Si’.
RAOEN Coordinator Pedro Walpole SJ will be joined onsite by Ms Rowena Soriaga (ESSC Programs Director) and Mr James Pochury (RAOEN South Asia Coordinator), and will organize and coordinate participation in the official UNFCCC side event, Integral Ecology and Climate Justice: Voices in the Struggle for Change, along with Boston College and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, on 14 November 2025, at the Side Event Room 3, 18:30 to 20:00 (Belém time).