Two local people connected with A Rocha Canada are taking part in COP31, the UN Climate Change Conference running from November 9 – 20 in Antalya, Türkiye.
According to the UN Climate Change site, COP31 . . .
. . . is the largest international summit to negotiate and advance global cooperation on climate change – a crisis to which no country, society and economy is immune. . . .
COP31 brings together representatives of government, business, civil society and more from around the world.
These international climate meetings have happened annually since 1995 and have given us major international breakthroughs like the 2015 Paris Agreement – which set the world on course to slowing and, one day, stopping climate change, which is already driving up temperatures, strengthening storms, prolonging droughts and raising sea levels.
Apart from the official delegates there are accredited observers, including business, youth, Indigenous and non-profit representatives.
Local participants
Samuel Chiu (third from left) at COP30 in Brazil.
Samuel Chiu, A Rocha Canada’s Community Engagement Coordinator, will fly out to the conference on Friday. He has attended several COP events over the past few years.
He is also Lead of Engagement to UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) for A Rocha International.
(The UNFCCC site notes: “Officially, COP31 stands for the 31st meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a landmark international treaty agreed in 1992, and parent treaty to the 2015 Paris Agreement.”)
Chiu is one of seven members of the A Rocha International delegation to COP31.
Danae Vanderveen, who attends Peace Portal Alliance Church in south Surrey, has had a summer job with the A Rocha community. She is attending COP31 as an A Rocha Associate.
A Rocha Canada is part of A Rocha International, “a global family of conservation organizations working together to live out God’s calling to care for creation and equip others to do likewise.” Founded in 1983, there are now A Rocha organization in 23 nations, with plans for 30 by 2030.
The Canadian head office of A Rocha is based on a property in south Surrey; there are local works in BC (both in Metro Vancouver and at Houston in the north), Manitoba and Ontario. (I have written about A Rocha a number of times over the years.)
Christian Climate Observers Program
Chiu emailed me:
As in previous years, multiple A Rocha organizations are partners at the Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP). This year we have about 40 people from close to 20 different countries.”
The CCOP states:
We are a non-denominational Christian presence advocating for God’s creation at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Tũrkiye, November 9 – 20, 2026. We are training the next generation of UN climate observers from a Christian and missional perspective.
They describe what they expect of observers:
The most important work of an observer, however, is not done at a COP, but rather from a COP. We report back to our constituencies (churches, denominations, schools, networks, etc) about what we observe in an attempt to more effectively mobilize everyone for climate action.
A Climate Observer who is a follower of Jesus, or who is observing on behalf of a Christian denomination or NGO has additional responsibilities we believe, namely to ‘interpret’ what they observe through a biblical framework and to act prophetically and priestly.
Christian Climate Observers learn through practice how to pray for the Paris Process. Special training will be given in inter-faith and ecumenical cooperation.
Among the CCOP sponsors, along with A Rocha Canada and A Rocha International, are Lausanne / WEA Creation Care Network, World Evangelical Alliance, SIL Global and BioLogos.
World Council of Churches
Rev. Faaimata (Mata) Havea Hiliau of the Uniting Church in Australia opened the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion November 9 at COP31. Photo: Valter Hugo Muniz/WCC
Other Christian groups are involved in COP31 as well. For example, the World Council of Churches, which states:
COP31 is not expected to produce a new landmark agreement in Antalya. The task of COP31 is to turn pledges into policies and finance.
The stakes are high. The UN Environment Programme warns that the world will now go above 1.5°C of warming, the goal of the Paris Agreement.
Under current policies, temperatures could rise 2.8°C this century, and every fraction of a degree brings more harm to the communities that did least to cause the crisis.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has followed the UN climate talks since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
In Antalya, a WCC delegation of church leaders, young people, and Indigenous people will bring a faith voice for climate justice. Their work is part of the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action (2025–2034).
For the churches, COP31 is more than a negotiation. “We reiterate that the ecological crisis is fundamentally spiritual and moral,” the WCC executive committee said on 12 June 2026. The statement says that “the churches are called to participate in God’s work of healing relationships between humanity and the whole Living Planet, among peoples and nations, and across generations.”
- 12 November: Side event “Just Transitions away from Fossil Fuels: Voices from Faith Communities,” COP31 Blue Zone (the UN-managed area open to accredited participants)
- 15 November: COP31 Ecumenical Service, St Alypios’ Church, Antalya
- 17 November: Delivery of the faith-based organizations’ message to the COP31 high-level segment (the part of COP31 where ministers and heads of delegation make national statements)
- 18 November: Roundtable dialogue “Facing Ethical Challenges,” COP31 Blue Zone
Canada at COP31
A November 9 CBC News article is titled, ‘Canada’s credibility on the line at COP31 as it defends fossil fuel expansion while trumpeting clean energy’:
Canada does not appear to be shying away from the UN process despite its recent climate-policy rollbacks. A significant diplomatic contingent, led by federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, will attend COP31, along with a dedicated Canada Pavilion hosting side events involving government, think tanks and NGO groups.
“I do think that there will be some heat from groups about the stepbacks on some of the climate policies that we’ve seen over the past year. So, I think it’ll be up and down,” said Philip Gass, who leads research on Canadian energy at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a climate and energy policy think tank.
“Depending what the topic of the day is, it might be a little bit rocky for Canada.”
For updates during COP31:
- sign up for CCOP daily newsletters
- follow the WCC’s daily updates (click on ‘stories’)