Archbishop Don Tamihere and Climate Change Commissioner for the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, NZ and Polynesia Fe'iloakitau Kaho Tevi will advocate for the holistic health of oceans, forests and ice landscapes in the Indigenous-led Anglican Communion delegation to COP30's ‘People’s Summit’ that runs alongside the UN climate conference in Brazil this November. 

The two Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia Anglican leaders will join in this year's Anglican advocacy focus on oceans, forests and ice landscapes as vital ecosystems, which has been developed in consultation with Anglican Indigenous leaders around the world.

Hosted in Brazil, where the destruction of the Amazon rainforest as a major ‘lung of the earth’ has seen 68.9 million hectares of forest lost between 2001 and 2023, the role of ‘The People’s Summit’ is expected to have a significant influence on the official governmental COP30 discussions.

Archbishop Marinez Bassotto Primate of Brazil and Bishop of the Amazon will play a major role during the ‘People’s Summit’ hosting a ‘Tapiri’ at the Catedral Anglicana de Santa Maria, gathering ecumenical and interfaith leaders' voices on the care of Creation.

Tapiri is a word from the Indigenous Tupi language, which denotes the house where communities gather to have conversations. Activities will include a People’s March, a Vigil and a Boat Parade, which will convey the communities' messages on the failing health of Creation and its need of care. Archbishop Marinez will also attend official COP30 discussions to advocate for climate justice. 

Archbishop Marinez emphasises that indigenous peoples' voices, including local riverine, quilombola and traditional communities, must be heard by the global political leaders.

"Their voices need to be at the centre of discussions, because they are the ones who hold the ancestral and practical knowledge necessary for preservation. Climate justice will only be achieved when the territorial and cultural rights of these communities are fully recognised and respected." 

"We want their voices to influence the negotiations… [to ensure] that the commitments made at the Summit are translated into concrete, effective and fair action."

Anglican Communion Permanent Representative to the UN, Martha Jarvis, is coordinating Anglican presence at COP30, which will include: Indigenous US Episcopalian priest Rev Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg,  Anglican Communion Youth Network representative Ayanna Evelyn of Barbados, members of the Creation Justice Working Group of Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, Malawi Green Anglicans coordinator Charles Bakolo, and Mozambique-Angola Green Anglicans coordinator, Rev Aurelio Uqueio.

COP 30 marks the halfway point to 2030, when countries need to meet their climate pledges under the Paris Agreement. It will focus on what countries need to do to:
- limit global temperature increase to 1.5C,
- launch new national plans to address climate change (NDCs)
- and implement the financial pledges made at COP29. 

Anglican Advocacy at COP will prioritise people suffering the harshest impacts of climate crisis, who have contributed least to climate change and have the fewest financial resources to respond.

Joining with other faith groups, leaders, scientists, campaigners, and indigenous representatives, Anglican representatives will call on governments to:

• Listen to the voices of the Amazon and indigenous wisdom worldwide that has cared for creation over generations
• Work with faith groups to strengthen resilience in communities on the front line of climate crisis, including Pacific islands, Arctic villages, Amazon settlements and coastal towns
• Keep promises on climate finance so that all nations can thrive
• Speed the just transition away from fossil fuel dependency
• Commit to changing international finance systems to protect the poorest people and share global resources more fairly

Anglicans at COP will highlight Anglican churches involved in environmental action to represent the vital role faith groups can play. For example, the Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia’s work campaigning for ocean restoration, the Anglican Church of Kenya’s goal of planting 15 million trees to restore Karura urban forest zones in Nairobi, and the Church of England's drive to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. 

Alongside COP30, the Anglican Communion's ‘Lungs of the Earth’ initiative invites churches to protect oceans, forests and ice caps, through reforestation, reducing plastic pollution and reducing emissions. A focus on the Communion Forest, continues to be one of the major ways in which churches are joining efforts. The project has launched a virtual mapper with ‘Restor’ to help anyone across the world map their Communion forest activities.

Read more about the Lungs of the Earth Campaign here.