COP30

How can I pray for COP30?

How to pray with and for Tearfund’s team ahead of and during the UN’s annual climate conference, COP30 in Brazil.

The impacts of the climate crisis are hitting the world’s poorest communities first and hardest, making poverty worse. We see this every day in the communities we work alongside.

The changing climate is driving more frequent and unpredictable extreme weather events, such as floods, drought and heatwaves. Lower income countries have fewer resources to adapt and recover from these, so the impact on their homes and livelihoods is devastating. This is unjust and will only get worse unless we take action now.

COP30 is significant because it marks ten years since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. A landmark agreement on tackling climate change, the Paris Agreement established a pattern for countries to report on climate change every five years, which means that, over the course of 2025, countries have been announcing their new targets or NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions). This COP will be a moment to look at those targets, ramp up ambition to cut emissions, and make a tangible difference to the lives of people living in extreme poverty.

With more frequent and more devastating climate events like floods, droughts and heatwaves affecting the planet, the climate crisis is pushing many people further into extreme poverty.

COP30, this year’s UN annual climate conference, is one vital opportunity for us to live out our Christian calling both to love our neighbours as ourselves and to care for God’s creation.

Your prayers and support play a vital role in helping us achieve all that we hope to at COP30.

We’d love for you to pray with us before, during and after COP30, so we’ve put together some suggestions below to help guide you as a starting point.

• Lift up to God people living in poverty as they are often the ones hit first by the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, even though, in many cases, they have contributed the least to cause the problem.

• Ask God to provide the resources to replace crops, homes and livelihoods that people in poverty have lost because of more frequent and intense extreme weather events caused by the climate crisis.

• Pray for solutions and resources to be on hand and available to people who need them most, to enable them to adapt to and recover from these weather events.

• Ask God to inspire compassion and a sense of personal responsibility to care for creation and our fellow humans in every single person around the world – we each have our own important part to play, no matter how small it may feel.

• Pray for behaviour changes globally at every level, from individuals to communities to major world leaders, that will improve the situation and start to repair the damage caused by the climate crisis.

• Pray for wider sharing of climate-resilient farming solutions, and for more new discoveries and research in this area to bring about good results for the people who grow the food we depend on daily.

• Pray for wealthy nations to step up in delivering vitally-needed climate finance to support the most climate-affected communities to adapt to a crisis they didn’t cause.

• Pray for Christians and the Church to lead the way in care for Creation, following Jesus in showing love for one another, and acting as good stewards of what God has given us.

• Ask God to give wisdom and courage to Christians and the Church to care for people and speak up against injustices like the climate crisis – to see things done ‘on Earth as in Heaven’.

• Pray for churches and faith leaders to be bold in advocating for those most in need because of the impacts of climate breakdown.

• Pray that the needs will be very clear to all involved in making decisions. Pray that political leaders will be ambitious and committed to finding solutions, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he attends the summit.

• Ask God for travelling mercies for the Tearfund team travelling to Brazil from across Latin America, as well as Laura Anderson and Hannah Eves who will be attending from the UK.

• Pray for wisdom for all those who have a voice at this conference, that God will give them strength and courage to speak truth to power and to stand up for justice.

• Ask God for excellent practical outcomes, and that words will become actions, implemented quickly, efficiently and effectively.

• Pray for countries to act with accountability and integrity.

• Ask God for governments to raise ambition on climate finance to deliver the support needed so that the communities we serve can adapt to the impacts of climate change.

• Pray that leaders will be inspired to see ways they can extend their countries’ targets, and that they will be brave to take on that challenge.

• Lift up to God this COP30 as a moment to look at those targets, and ramp up ambition to cut emissions.

Please read this briefing from A Rocha