This year marks the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was launched at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (The Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro. COP30 will take place in November 2025 in Belém, Brazil, hosted by the Government of Brazil.
A distinctive feature of COP30 is its emphasis on the ethical dimensions of addressing the global climate crisis. It invites all interested stakeholders to contribute to a Global Ethical Stocktake (GES) — a process that calls on people everywhere “to reflect on the values, behaviors, and responsibilities that must be transformed so that the commitments made at UN Climate Conferences become a reality.”
As part of this effort, the COP30 GES initiative is organizing six regional meetings and is encouraging the organization of Self-Organized Ethical Dialogues on the climate crisis. These dialogues aim to bring together leaders from social, cultural, spiritual, business, scientific, and political sectors to discuss the ethical imperative of tackling climate change. The outcomes will contribute to a global civil society report to be presented at COP30.
A central question driving the GES is:
“If we already know what needs to be done to address the climate crisis, why aren’t we doing it?”
Earth Charter International (ECI) is happy to contribute to this process and also explore how the Earth Charter can be used as an ethical compass and reference to enrich these dialogues.
In this context, ECI is calling on all its affiliated and partner organizations to engage in this initiative by hosting local Self-Organized Dialogues as part of the Global Ethical Stocktake as a way to foster dialogue and understanding on the ethical challenges and dimensions of climate change.
When should these Self-Organized Dialogues take place?
Between August and end of September.
How and where these Self-Organized Dialogues could take place?
- Within your institution, university or school. You can engage the community you work with to organize a GES dialogue. (Minimum 20 people)
- The dialogue can span a full day, half a day, or two days.
- Follow the questions provided in the “Guide for Self-organized Dialogues of the Global Ethical Stocktake.”
- You can submit your answers directly to the COP30 organizers. However, if you are doing this as part of the Earth Charter Network, we would also like to also receive your responses so we can compile and submit them collectively as outcomes of the Global Earth Charter Movement.
👉 Click here to access the submission form.
ECI prepared a position paper for COP30, which we encourage you to use it as part of your dialogue(s). It can be found here.
In case you engage with this, we encourage you to share your activities on social media and tag @Earth Charter International and @COP30, with the following hashtags:
#COP30 #ClimateChangeEthics #GlobalEthicalStocktake #GES #EarthCharter
Background information on the GES for COP30
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- In March 2025, the president of COP 30 issued a first letter outlining key priorities for COP30 and indicating that a Global Ethical Stocktake (GES) will be undertaken as part of this process. (click here in case you want to see the letter)
- In May, the president of COP 30 issued a second letter, in which they refer to the Laudato Si’ “as both an ethical compass and a pragmatic guide for this global mobilization.” (click here in case you want to see it)
- In July, a guide for “Self-organized Dialogues of the Global Ethical Stocktake” was launched. These guidelines encourage all interested organizations to offer input to the Global Ethical Stocktake towards COP30. (click here in case you want to see it)
- You can learn more about the Global Ethical Stocktake here, which is a special and major effort taking place under the formal leadership of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, with key support from the COP30 Presidency, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the UNFCCC,
Click below for more details:
Global Ethical Stocktake: an ethical and urgent call: https://cop30.br/en/brazilian-presidency/cop-30-circles/global-ethical-stocktake
Brazil and the UN launch Global Ethical Stocktake: a worldwide call to climate action ahead of COP30: https://cop30.br/en/news-about-cop30/brasil-and-the-un-launch-global-ethical-stocktake-a-worldwide-call-to-climate-action-ahead-of-cop30
