The international community will gather in Antalya, Türkiye, November 9-20, 2026 for the 31st United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties, also known as COP31.
Texas Impact joins a cohort of experienced faith advocates from around the world in traveling to the meeting.
US faith participation in COP this year is urgently important. That’s partly precisely because our national leaders are staying away—effectively sidelining Americans in a critical global conversation that has existential implications for all people.
It’s also important because the emerging agendas and work plans for this year’s COP reveal serious conflicts between interest groups…nagging doubts about the efficacy of multilateral negotiations in the current global political environment…and—most significant for faith communities—growing tensions between the goals of economic leaders and demands for equity and justice from marginalized groups like women, youth, and those living in areas already disproportionately impacted by climate change.
Why Faith and Climate?
Our faith traditions call us to stand with marginalized people and work for the common good in all we do. That means calling for ambitious climate action — effective mitigation, ambitious climate finance, data-driven and comprehensive adaptation, and more.
The United States is uniquely positioned with respect to climate change, both as a primary emitter of the greenhouse gasses causing human-induced climate change and as a wealthy nation with the capacity to drive mitigation and adaptation worldwide.
As leaders of denominations, social action groups, and mission organizations, we hope to remind the parties in the official negotiating rooms that the need for climate action is not an isolated technical or scientific matter, but a humanitarian and ethical imperative of the highest order.
