Laudato Si鈥檚 Integral Ecology Honored at Schiller-hosted side event at COP30
By Stephanie M. McPherson | January 2026
The stickiness of the evening in Bel茅m, Brazil pervaded the conference hall. Though it was 6:30 in the evening, the temperature clung to the mid-80s and the humidity hovered at 80 percent. But the speakers and audience members participating in the Schiller Institute co-hosted panel 鈥淚ntegral Ecology and Climate Justice: Voices in the Struggle for Change鈥� took it in stride, some seeing it almost as a microcosm of the world they鈥檇 come to the 30th UN Climate Change Conference to discuss how to save.听
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鈥淲e are gathered in Bel茅m on the edge of the Amazon, a living reminder that ecology is never abstract,鈥� said Shelley White, Associate Professor of the Practice and Director of Experiential Learning in the Global Public Health and Common Good Program, in her opening remarks as the panel鈥檚 moderator. 鈥淚t is home, livelihood, culture, and governance together. That is what we mean by integral ecology, caring for people and places as one reality, and linking practice to evidence and policy to move from good intentions to meaningful change.鈥澨�
This panel, an official side event in the Blue Zone of COP30, called for the idea of Integral Ecology to be part of the discussion in the development of climate change mitigation plans and solutions. To that end, the organizers 鈥� Schiller, along with University of Oxford鈥檚 Integral Ecology Research Network (IERN), the Philippine鈥檚 Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) 鈥� centered the voices and knowledge bases of indigenous people living in the areas most affected by climate-related disasters. It was one of three events co-hosted by the Schiller Institute at COP30, held Nov. 10 to 21, 2025, marking Boston College鈥檚 first foray into such a leadership position on this world stage.听
A growing voice
51成人动漫 has sent observer-status delegations to COP since 2021鈥檚 Glasgow conference. This year鈥檚 evolution into a multi-event sponsor grew from an introduction by James Keenan, 51成人动漫鈥檚 Vice Provost for Global Engagement, between IERN鈥檚 Peter Ro啪i膷 and Schiller鈥檚 Kaley McCarty. Ro啪i膷 had been looking for a way to increase conversations at COP around the Jesuit principle of Integral Ecology as outlined in Pope Francis鈥檚 2015 encyclical Laudato si鈥�. Ro啪i膷 and McCarty, Assistant Director of Programs at Schiller, found themselves on the same wavelength with their desires to address the need for holistic change.听
鈥淭he idea was to put faith perspectives in communication with people on the front lines,鈥� says McCarty. 鈥淎 story is more powerful than a statistic鈥reating spaces to ensure that those voices are front and center is important.鈥�
McCarty and Ro啪i膷 combined their proposal with similar ideas presented by ESSC and SCIAF. In the weeks leading up to COP30, the four institutions navigated complicated time differences and nuanced priorities to develop the eight-person panel finally presented on November 14, the first Friday of the conference.听
While planning the Integral Ecology panel, McCarty was inspired to develop another event that dove into the ways higher education influences burgeoning climate activists. This led to two versions of a panel titled 鈥淪haping the Next Generation of Climate Innovators,鈥� one for each week of the conference.
Boston College as a co-host of multiple panels opened doors for student and faculty delegates. Beyond White moderating the Integral Ecology event, Emma Brace, Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering, moderated the second week鈥檚 鈥淣ext Generation鈥� event while PhD candidate Abigail Bergman sat on the panel. Senior Elleen Kim spoke at the week one version.
鈥淪eeing the students engage and think about no matter what they want to do with their careers, they want to be climate conscious people really made me feel like we have made progress,鈥� says Brace. 鈥淚t gave me hope that regardless of changes in our federal government and other shifts in society, that there are a lot of people committed to doing what they can.鈥�
Sophomore Dominique Williams spoke at the Integral Ecology event, alongside luminaries such as Cardinal Pablo Virgilio S. David and other executives and activists dedicating their lives to climate justice.听
鈥淭he panelists were absolutely lovely 鈥� [talking about] 鈥榟ow are we creating positive change that鈥檚 accessible to all of us? How are we rectifying the environmental and human injustices that come alongside climate change?鈥欌�� says Williams, an environmental studies and economics double major from Saint Kitts and Nevis, a small dual-island state in the Caribbean.听
Opening a dialogue
Williams was spurred to advocacy through witnessing devastation wrought on neighboring islands by increasingly powerful and frequent hurricanes. She remembers visiting family in Dominica soon after the island was struck by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and seeing its normally lush landscape scarred by mudslides, with barren treetops where verdant forest canopy should have been. When Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica just a few weeks before COP30, she was stunned to see a replay of the same level of destruction she remembered from nearly a decade ago.听
鈥淚t was just absurd that it felt like we were stuck in time,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his thing is supposed to exist in my past. This is a memory, but I'm seeing it right in front of me.鈥� She captured her frustrations and heartbreak in a poem she titled 鈥淚 Can Never Forget,鈥� which she chose to share during her time on the panel.
鈥淚t's a pain that I can't forget,鈥� she read. 鈥淪o even though the rest of the world might forget Erica 鈥� Irma 鈥� Maria 鈥� Beryl 鈥� Melissa, my heart mourns every day, mourning tragedies that haven't even occurred as yet, and my heart is further wounded by many's denials, as if I wasn't there, as if I don't remember, as if I'm not seeing the same thing happen right now.鈥�
Williams hoped sharing these candid emotions would move people to understand that the news footage they gape at depicts the shattered lives of people with no coal plants to decommission, no oil to stop drilling for 鈥� people who have contributed the least to the current global crisis.听
While at COP, Williams witnessed negotiations as a delegate for Saint Kitts and Nevis and was frustrated by the clinical feel of the proceedings.
鈥淚t's like this forgetting that鈥� we have more in common in our fight against climate change than we do have separate,鈥� she says.听
She hopes at least some decision makers saw the Integrated Ecology panel or that those in the audience bring the real-time urgency of the situation to politicians鈥� attention, reminding them that they, too, hold a responsibility as global citizens.
Ro啪i膷 also emphasizes that scientists and politicians must engage with people living their lives in the thick of climate consequences to be able to develop equitable and viable solutions.听
鈥淚n order for these crises to be resolved, we need to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd so for us, at the event, it was important to bring together especially marginalized voices because often they are not heard.鈥�
While many who attend COP view progress in concrete terms reflected in things like sustainable development goals and carbon reduction promises, Ro啪i膷 and his colleagues at IERN see things through a different lens.
鈥淭he success of COP is not only measured in terms of outcomes, but also the quality of relationships鈥� that endure,鈥� says Ro啪i膷.
鈥淒ialogue is the most important thing or should be the main goal of COP,鈥� adds Vinicius da Paixao, a PhD candidate studying biochemistry and a panel co-organizer from IERN. 鈥淪ometimes it is not possible anymore because of the political context or bad news by the media, but that should be the main thing. Any questions should be very open to dialogue and discussions and without any prejudice.鈥�
Invitation to holistic repair
Before closing out the Integral Ecology event as its respondent, Paixao asked attendees to remember the interconnectedness of all life and to fight against the 鈥渦s versus them versus the Earth鈥� worldview.听
鈥淭his crisis [is a] symptom of a mindset that forgets our interdependence and the responsibilities that come with it. Yet, one thing our shared experience with you today [gives us] is the perspective we might have a holistic 鈥� rooted in ancestral wisdom and especially in the indigenous knowledge 鈥� reconciliation between our habits and the consequences of our lives, both good and bad,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he generosity shown here, people sharing their experiences, ideas, resources and鈥uffering. Thank you so much for this. It's itself an invitation to more life, to reconnect, to repair, and to imagine a future where we live as whole human beings in a common home.鈥�
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