Brian Roewe

Each year more than 1.5 million bulbs of Christmas lights transform the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, in southern Illinois, into the Way of Lights, transporting visitors back to biblical days in a Christmas display like few others in the country.

Members of West Virginia Interfaith Power & Light delivered a Christmas card to the senator urging he reconsider his opposition to the bill that contains billions in climate investments.

EarthBeat Weekly: Senate Democrats' dreams of passing before Christmas the Build Back Better Act, and its half trillion-dollar investments this decade in climate initiatives, appear poised to extend into next year.

Patricia Espinosa, head of the United Nations' top climate change agency, was recognized Dec. 6 by Georgetown University and Hillary Clinton for her leadership and work in advancing women's rights around the globe.

The recently launched Faith Plans program looks to utilize the financial and property assets, resources and influence that faith groups possess as a more forceful tool in the global response to climate change and environmental degradation.

EarthBeat Weekly: Thanksgiving isn't the only national holiday this week, and we're revisiting recent EarthBeat coverage about Native Americans on this day to celebrate their heritage and contributions to the country.

The U.N. climate summit COP26 took some steps forward in the global effort to rapidly limit dangerous levels of warming, but not nearly enough or fast enough, say Catholic groups who were present in Glasgow throughout the two-week conference.

All sectors of the church are invited to participate in the Laudato Si' Action Platform, the Vatican-backed initiative to encourage concrete action on sustainability and climate change. Based on Pope Francis' landmark encyclical on care for creation, it aims to spark a cultural shift away from exploitation of the planet and its resources.

While COP26 is coming to a close, the work does not end, especially for faith communities involved in the fight against climate change, said Iyad Abumoghli, director of the Faith for Earth Initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Among the voices at COP26 who are most impacted by climate change, Indigenous leaders are speaking out about solutions they have proposed to stem global warming in ways that won't destroy their lands and livelihoods.

See the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice through the eyes of Catholics who marched in Glasgow at the midpoint of the United Nations climate summit.

Billions of dollars and a bevy of new commitments from countries to move away from fossil fuels are promising developments that will depend on the details, say Catholics at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

In a written message, Pope Francis called on world leaders assembled at COP26 to demonstrate "political will" and stop deferring the action required to avert the worst catastrophes of climate change.

As the climate conference begins, pilgrims and representatives of many world religions call for climate justice and for countries to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions.

On British airwaves Friday morning, Pope Francis said that leaders and diplomats coming to the U.K. for the COP26 climate summit are "urgently summoned to provide effective responses to the present ecological crisis."

Scotland's Catholic bishops' conference and dioceses are among 72 faith institutions on six continents that announced their fossil-free commitments Oct. 26, days before the U.N. climate conference begins in Glasgow.

EarthBeat Weekly: Global public opinion is skeptical that when leaders gather in Glasgow they'll do anything to seriously address the major challenge of climate change.

Catholic development agencies, religious congregations and the Vatican say the climate change summit known as COP26 is crucial to the international effort to limit the planet's rising temperatures. The conference in Glasgow, Scotland will urge nearly 200 countries to commit to substantial, short-term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

COP26, the U.N. climate change summit, is set to begin in 17 days. According to Catholics who will be at the conference, there are many reasons why people of faith should pay attention to the proceedings.

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of Greenfield, Wisconsin, are turning their estimated 200 acres near the Mississippi River into a living classroom for the local community. They have permanently committed the land to educational and collaborative sustainability projects.