Bishops from Global South want future free from fossil fuels

By CathNews New Zealand

March 24th, 2026

(Alessandro Vecchi/Wikimedia Commons)

Catholic bishops primarily from the Global South, including Oceania, have collectively issued a document on peace with creation and a just transition beyond fossil fuels. Source: UCA News.

The document, titled Manifesto of the Churches of the Global South for Our Common Home, was launched on March 16 during an online event led by bishops and cardinals representing Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Oceania.

Archbishop Ryan Jimenez of Agana, Guam, vice president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania, was among those who led the launch.

The manifesto makes a moral, socio-economic, political and legal call for a just transition away from fossil fuels. It was launched ahead of the First International Fossil Fuel Conference, which will be convened by the governments of Colombia and the Netherlands in Santa Marta, Colombia, at the end of April 2026.

The conference is a response to the inability to reach a consensus last year at COP30 in Belem on fossil fuel phase-out.

Recognising that the Paris Agreement – an essential framework for global climate action – sets the global temperature target at 1.5 degrees Celsius, which requires a rapid phasing out of fossil fuels, the manifesto also notes that the Paris Agreement does not explicitly name fossil fuels as the root of the problem or restrict their production.

The document consequently aims to join stakeholders who seek to plug this gap by advocating the development and adoption of a legally binding Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT) and other related measures – a key item on the Santa Marta agenda.

The manifesto and others call for the FFNPT to halt new oil and gas exploration and production and oversee the decline and phasing-out of existing production under a global framework.

They advocate for a fair transition by phasing out current production according to each nation’s historical responsibility and capacity, while ensuring an equitable and inclusive shift to renewable energy, leaving no worker, community or country behind.

FULL STORY

A manifesto from Global South churches for a fossil-free future (By Jean D’Cunha/UCA News)

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