Engaged Buddhism: The Soka Gakkai Issues Statement Calling for Global Solidarity on Climate Crisis Ahead of COP30

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Engaged Buddhism: The Soka Gakkai Issues Statement Calling for Global Solidarity on Climate Crisis Ahead of COP30

By Craig Lewis
November 7, 2025

The socially engaged Japanese Nichiren Buddhist organization the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) has issued a public statement ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will be held in Belém, Brazil, from 10–21 November. Titled “Mobilizing Global Solidarity to Meet the Challenges of the Climate Crisis,” the SGI’s statement voices an urgent call for civil society and faith communities to unite in solidarity to tackle accelerating climate change, emphasizing the key role key role of youth in mitigating this global crisis and limiting the suffering of future generations.

Government officials, scientists, civil society leaders, and private sector heads from around the world are gathering in Brazil on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, for annual talks on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the face of a rapidly changing climate. This year’s summit marks 10 years since the Paris Agreement, which struck a crucial deal to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avert the most extreme outcomes of global warming. The conference comes under a heavy cloud of record heat waves, stalled emission cuts, and geopolitical rifts that threaten to overturn hard-won progress.

“It goes without saying that 10 years after the positive momentum achieved with the Paris Agreement, things are not looking good,” the SGI told BDG “Multiple initiatives to rekindle international cooperation are needed in order to confront climate-related challenges.”

In the statement, dated 5 November, the SGI underscores a grim reality: “In the past, even as societies underwent various changes, the future was still perceived as something relatively foreseeable. However, we now see crises surfacing everywhere—in terms of both rising temperatures and natural disasters—such that people in many countries are feeling a stark and undeniable shift, a sense that we have entered a radically different dimension from anything we have previously known. . . .

“Amid escalating uncertainty and instability, a sense of resignation may begin to take hold among the world’s people―that perhaps resolving the climate crisis is beyond our capacity. If such despair spreads, it will not only undermine momentum for scaling up climate action but also threaten the commitment to existing efforts.” (Soka Gakkai International)

Youth representatives of Brazil SGI (BSGI) and the Soka Amazon Institute participated in the Youth20 (Y20) Pre-Summit in June 2024 in Belém, Brazil. Image courtesy of the SGI

The SGI’s statement emphasizes the severe harm to the lives, livelihoods, and dignity of people worldwide if global warming exceeds the parameters outlined in the Paris Agreement, warning that vital momentum is being lost as major political and economic obstacles inhibit global solidarity and cooperation:

As uncertainty about the future intensifies, there is deepening concern that we are approaching a critical threshold regarding the climate crisis in two key areas.

The first pertains to the actual rise in average global temperatures. The goal set by the Paris Agreement of limiting the average global temperature increase to within 1.5 degrees Celsius is now in serious jeopardy. The impacts of the climate crisis have already caused severe damage to people’s homes and livelihoods, particularly in island nations in the Pacific and elsewhere, and the number of those affected continues to rise. Warming significantly beyond the 1.5-degree limit will inevitably lead to even more serious harm to the lives, dignity and livelihoods of people around the world.

The second area of concern is the growing risk that international solidarity, essential for addressing our shared challenges, is weakening. In recent years, reaching consensus among developed and developing nations has become increasingly difficult, and measures such as the raising of tariffs have contributed to fears about the future of the global economy. As a result, cooperation aimed at significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions now faces serious obstacles. (Soka Gakkai International)

The “Seeds of Hope & Action: Making the SDGs a Reality” exhibition in Mumbai, India, organized by Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG). Image courtesy of the SGI

To counter this, the SGI statement puts forward two main proposals. The first calls for the mobilization of civil society, uniting people around the globe to build a foundation for action rooted in resolve and stressing the vital role of the world’s diverse faith traditions in facing this crisis.

“Faith communities are uniquely positioned to inspire the behavioral transformation essential for addressing the climate crisis,” the SGI shared with BDG. “The SGI recommends that further opportunities be created for faith groups to share best practices and work together to develop paths toward confronting the climate crisis and building a sustainable global society.”

The second proposal builds on sustained advocacy by youth for their increased involvement in decision-making related to climate governance, calling for a permanent youth council within the UNFCCC Secretariat to develop proposals and implementation strategies to be presented at each COP.

“It is youth who have been raising their voices most loudly across the globe, calling for climate justice,’ noted SGI Director General of Peace and Global Issues Hirotsugu Terasaki. “We believe that establishing such a council—led by youth—within the UNFCCC Secretariat would serve as a powerful symbol of transformative change at this critical time.”

Click here to read the Soka Gakkai’s full statement

Soka Gakkai representatives will also be attending and speaking at various COP30 events in Belém, including: the Talanoa Interfaith Dialogue on 10 November; “Ethics at the Heart of Just Transition: Human Rights, Intergenerational Equity, and Ecological Integrity,” an official side event organized by the QUNO Brahma Kumaris Soka Institute on 11 November; “From Dialogue to Action: Global Ethical Stocktake Shaping COP30,” an official side event organized by Religions for Peace, Tzu-Chi, and the Earth Charter International on 11 November; a Greenfaith event on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Amazon Climate Hub, on 16 November; and “Learning, Reflection, and Empowerment for Climate Action: A Dialogue on Challenges and Best Practices,” organized by SGI Italy and UNDP Italy at the Italian Pavilion on 17 November.

Founded in 1930, the Soka Gakkai (the Value Creation Society) is a Japanese Buddhist movement based on the teachings of the 13th century Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–82). Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, believed to contain the teachings of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, toward the end of his life, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment. Soka Gakkai centers its teachings on the Lotus Sutra, with recitation of the mantra “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (“Glory to the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra”) as its main devotional practice.

Some of the Soka Gakkai’s more high-profile members have included actor Orlando Bloom, jazz musician Herbie Hancock, and singer Tina Turner.

Craig Lewis

Craig Lewis grew up in a transplanted Scottish family in southern England before setting off against all advice to seek light and wisdom in far-off places, rather than staying put and looking within. After repeated encounters with the Buddhadharma as a journalist working in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and across Asia, he eventually found refuge as senior editor at BDG, where he reports and writes with a focus on engaged Buddhism and social equity as well as the diversity of contemporary manifestations of the Dharma and Buddhist practice. In his column for BDG, “Chasing Light,” Craig seeks to document encounters, experiences, and epiphanies resulting from his own tentative and faltering path toward liberation. Craig is also a keen mountain trekker and photographer, finding particular inspiration in the peoples, cultures, and Buddhist expressions of the Himalaya. Contact: [email protected]

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