Report 4: Sunday 16th November to Monday 17th November

On Sunday, COP30 had its only official rest day, during which many delegates explored the Amazon.  However, activities for the Brahma Kumaris team continued with a get-together for old friends and new at a special reception at the historic Belem Museum of Art.  Speakers included Sister Jayanti, Additional Head of the Brahma Kumaris, who had just arrived to join the delegation that day.

Monday featured an event at the Higher Education Pavilion which brought together visionary leaders from diverse backgrounds to explore how inner transformation, expanded knowledge systems, and holistic learning can reshape education for our planet’s future. The Higher Education Pavilion is a dedicated space in the Blue Zone for universities to showcase their work on climate action through research, education, innovation, and community engagement. In the Climate Wisdom Studio, Monday evening’s discussions included amongst other topics:  how to build inner resilience and the need for courage, determination, and faith in driving personal action.  The day culminated with a public talk by Sister Jayanti at the Belem Museum of Art which was well received by 80 people from the local community including Indigenous leaders.

From Mine to Mutual and Beyond: Reception at Belem Museum of Arts
Sunday 16th November 

The reception gathered COP30 delegates and active civil-society representatives from Belém and other regions of Brazil. It began with an open meet-and-greet at the Museum’s entrance hall, where participants connected informally over lovingly prepared vegan snacks. The second part took place in a historic room of the Museum.

Jacob Johns, Hopi and Akimel O’odham wisdom keeper, spoke about the great personal and financial efforts Indigenous peoples must make simply to be noticed at COPs and how often their voices remain unheard. He emphasized the need to focus on creating what is new rather than only responding to what is broken.

 Sister Jayanti, Add. Admin. Head of Brahma Kumaris, followed by recalling how Indigenous communities had recognized the signs of climate change long before others took them seriously. She highlighted the importance of inner resilience, drawing strength from a connection with the Divine, and using this inner power as a force for transformation. The gathering concluded with a short meditation led by Sister Jayanti, accompanied by live sitar music.

Transforming Higher Education for Climate Action: Integrating Inner-Outer
Transformation for Climate Action Through Expanded Knowledge Systems
17th November at the Higher Education Pavilion

 

This event addressed how integrating inner and outer transformation can strengthen responses to the climate crisis. Moderator Carolin Fraude engaged participants through reflective exchanges that helped consolidate the presentations.

Prof. Christine Wamsler, who joined online from Lund University, Sweden, introduced the need for integrating inner dimensions into sustainability science, noting that external solutions alone have failed and that emerging research, now recognized by UNEP, offers scalable approaches.

Laila Martins introduced the Inner Development Goals as a practical framework for embedding inner competencies into higher education and climate education, explaining her efforts to bring this perspective into UNFCCC processes.

 Prof. Mark Lawrence emphasized the need for transdisciplinarity, showing why complex crises demand diverse knowledge sources beyond academia.

 Sister Jayanti concluded by illustrating how consciousness and spiritual practice support deep societal transformation through a lived sense of interconnectedness.

Climate Wisdom Studio: Inner Resilience, Planetary Renewal
17th November 2025

This evening Golo Pilz, Adviser Renewable Energy Brahma Kumaris, spoke with Heloisa Schurmann, Researcher Voice of the Ocean, Lindsey Fielder Cook, Repr. Climate Change, Quaker UN Office, and Maureen Goodman, Programme Director Brahma Kumaris, UK.

The discussion was on how to build inner resilience, and how this leads to change. The guests shared the value of acting with courage, determination and faith; inner change creating hope for wider change; the importance of heart to heart conversations and seeing all the positive actions individuals are already taking.

Heloisa Schurmann shared that whatever are our dreams or vision for the future, we need to keep our courage and act. She has seen so much courage in the acts of ordinary people in the face of climate challenges in finding solutions.  As a sailor, she said, we prepare for the challenge of the storm and then we keep courage, faith and determination. It is because her faith is stronger than her fear that she has been able to accomplish what she has.

Maureen Goodman said that meditation enables us to access our inner wisdom, happiness and love. This builds our inner resilience and changes our worldview and our actions.  We can’t immediately transform ‘out there’ but we can make changes within; we then know that change is possible and hope arises. It is also important to acknowledge everything individuals and communities are  already doing, as this too creates hope. We have a saying in the Brahma Kumaris: If you take one step of courage, God will take a thousand steps towards you.

Lindsey Fielder Cook shared about the courage to make ethical decisions with regard to climate issues. Within the Quakers, the importance of values of equality and each one’s experience is emphasised. When we sit together and listen to each other we ‘humanise’ each other. By creating spaces to speak from the heart, we build relationships, and this helps us to also think from the heart.  We then feel inspired to do things ethically and with love.

Watch here

Ancestral Wisdom: Contemporary Solutions
17th November  Public Talk

 

Sister Jayanti began her talk by shifting the focus from the external details of climate change and events like COP to the crucial inner dimension of our existence and its impact on the world. She asserted that the fundamental problem lies in the disconnection from our original truth. We have mistakenly adopted identities based on materialistic forms, roles, and status, leading to a growing inner void and a lack of real fulfillment.

This void has driven a lifestyle characterized by ‘extraction’, not just from Mother Nature, but also from one another. Our relationships have become toxic and exploitative due to emotional dependencies, further perpetuating the crisis.

The solution, according to Sister Jayanti, is to reconnect with the understanding that we are Spiritual beings living in a human body, not the reverse.  She emphasized that this reconnection requires very little time - just a small shift in attention. Answering a question, she suggested that one minute at the beginning of every hour can help stabilize the mind for the remaining 59 minutes, fostering a free flow of positivity throughout the day.

Sister Jayanti also noted that our distance from the Divine leads us to seek temporary "quick fixes" in life, which ultimately fail to truly nourish the soul. The only path to genuine soul empowerment is through connecting back to its true self and the Supreme Source.