BIC highlights ethics, future generations, and shared responsibility

BELÉM, Brazil — What kind of motivation can compel implementation of difficult decisions required to address climate change, not only today but for generations to come? This question lay at the heart of contributions from the Bahá’í International Community (BIC) at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), held in Belém, Brazil, where over 50,000 participants gathered to examine the gap between climate commitments and their implementation.

In reflections shared with the Bahá’í World News Service following the conference, Daniel Perell, a representative of BIC’s New York Office, observed that many of the polarizing debates are gradually shifting to addressing more complex questions of how humanity can act together.

Mr. Perell, together with seven other BIC delegates from Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States, participated in a range of discussions in the conference, as well as in off-site events across Belém.

One of the conference’s distinctive features was the Global Ethical Stocktake (GES), a new initiative of the COP30 Presidency that invited individuals and institutions around the world to consider the ethical dimensions of climate change.

At the GES pavilion, the BIC co-hosted a forum titled “The Role of Faith Communities in Building an Ethic of Care and Climate Justice,” which drew on global experiences in community-building endeavors.

In his remarks at that forum, Mr. Perell spoke about widening humanity’s sense of solidarity, recognizing that today’s decisions shape the possibilities available to future generations. “Urgent action actually requires long-term thinking and a long-term approach, looking at future generations and our responsibility to them,” he said.

Mr. Perell contrasted approaches that rely mainly on financial incentives with the kind of motivation seen within families, where people act for the sake of their children and grandchildren out of love and moral responsibility. Bringing such ethical considerations into climate discussions, he suggested, can unlock deeper stores of courage and perseverance.

Questions of concern for the collective wellbeing of humanity were also at the center of an official side event titled “From Principles to Policy: National Pathways for Addressing Loss and Damage,” co-hosted by the BIC and the government of Vanuatu.

Addressing loss and damage requires more than technical mechanisms, noted Vahíd Vahdat of the Brazilian Bahá’í Office of External Affairs. “We will only be able to face these challenges if we also draw on our best qualities as a civilization,” he said.

Mr. Vahdat emphasized the need to combine scientific analysis with dialogue, trust, and a recognition that humanity is one family. The event examined how communities might develop holistic approaches to climate challenges, looking at vulnerabilities alongside capacities and aspirations, and ensuring that local populations can identify challenges, analyze circumstances, and take collective action. This view, Mr. Vahdat stated, sees people as protagonists of social change and resilience rather than mere victims.

Beyond the official conference site, discussions further explored topics of ethics and motivation at a TED forum titled “The climate crisis is a spiritual crisis: A multifaith Global Ethical Stocktake.”

Moderated by Nika Sinai of the Australian Bahá’í Office of External Affairs, the discussion brought together representatives of different faith traditions and civil society groups to examine how principles and values such as justice, compassion, and truthfulness can inspire courageous decisions, and how scientific knowledge and spiritual insight can be understood as complementary systems of knowledge that together can guide effective climate action.

“Reducing emissions requires the technical solutions we are familiar with, but it also requires a sense of compassion and justice to understand that our choices as emitters and consumers of energy ripple across the earth and impact both our fellow human beings and the planet that we share,” Ms. Sinai said. “Therefore, we combine these two complementary systems of knowledge—science and religion—in our efforts to resolve the climate crisis.”

The contribution of the Bahá’í community of Brazil at COP30 drew on experience in moral and spiritual educational programs that build the capacity of young people to contribute to environmental action.

Prior to the conference, the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs of that country collaborated with the Vila do Boa Classe school and local organizations in the Federal District to hold a “mini-COP,” where children and youth reflected on the theme “What is the village of our dreams?” and connected their hopes to practical efforts such as tree planting, protecting springs, and improving waste management in their neighborhood. This gathering was part of a wider series of other Global Ethical Stocktake conversations hosted by Bahá’í communities in several countries, creating channels through which reflections at the local level could inform discussions at COP30.

“The technical knowledge about climate change already shows many of the steps we need to take,” said Luísa Cavalcanti, a member of the Office of External Affairs. “What is often missing is an ethical will that can advance decision-making processes.”

Mrs. Cavalcanti explained that the mini-COP, as well as a subsequent public hearing in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, enabled young people to articulate their concerns and aspirations in their own words. “We see that children and adolescents are not only the future,” she said, “they are already acting in their communities.”

These experiences directly informed the Brazilian Bahá’í community’s forum in the COP30 Green Zone, titled “Convergence in Diversity: uniting diverse social actors around shared environmental goals.”

The gathering brought together groups of youth, educators, civil society organizations, and representatives of public institutions to explore how different perspectives can complement one another in climate action.

The reflections these attendees shared with the News Service highlighted the importance of intergenerational collaboration and of building convergence as an active, ongoing effort—one that requires attentive listening, cooperation, and a consistent presence in the life of communities.

Reflecting on this year’s diverse fora, Mr. Perell stated: “The science of climate change is increasingly clear.

“The remaining questions are, at their core, ethical ones. How we answer them, and whose voices are included, will shape the kind of world we bequeath to those who come after us.”