Feature story
That question ran through every session of the 6th Sustainable Alternatives for Poverty Reduction and Ecological Justice (SAPREJ) International Conference, held from 9–10 April 2026 in Zomba. Co-organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), the University of Malawi (UNIMA), and the University of Blantyre Synod (UBS), the event drew theologians, ecologists, economists, and policy practitioners to the theme "Religion and Sustainable Development: Towards Biodiversity and Climate Justice in Africa."
Prof. Isabel Apawo Phiri, vice-chancellor of the University of Blantyre Synod and former deputy general secretary of the WCC, was the keynote speaker on day one.
Participating online, Dr Louk Andrianos, WCC consultant for Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice SAPREJ co-founder, was clear about what the conference was for: "to reinterpret the Nicene confession of creation in light of Africa's ecological crisis, to integrate theological ethics with empirical biodiversity science and climate justice advocacy, to propose sustainable alternatives for poverty reduction that preserve ecological integrity, and most important to align ecclesial action with the WCC Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action."
The continent's situation formed an unavoidable backdrop. Africa sits at the intersection of biodiversity loss, climate change, and entrenched poverty, yet bears minimal historical responsibility for carbon emissions. Its ecosystems are among the planet's most significant: the Congo Basin rainforest, the world's second-largest tropical forest according to WWF and UNESCO, alongside the Cape Floristic Region, Madagascar's endemic species, and vast marine systems.
Twenty-five papers were presented across the two days, ranging from indigenous environmental knowledge, including the role of the Chewa ritual tradition Gule Wamkulu as a vehicle for ecological consciousness, to interfaith perspectives on creation care, biblical frameworks for agricultural stewardship, and faith-based media as a tool for biodiversity protection. Tomas Insua of the Laudato Si Research Institute at the University of Oxford examined how the Feast of Creation is being adopted across denominational liturgical calendars.
Day two featured a cross-sector panel discussion on "Religion, Society and Climate Justice," chaired by Rev. Dr Billy Gama, member of the WCC central committee. Panelists came from the Malawi Council of Churches, Standard Bank, and the Office of the Deputy Presidential Advisor on Religious Affairs. Church, finance, and government in the same room, working through the same questions.
Dr Lesya Sabada, lecturer in Religion and Culture at St Thomas More College and member of the WCC Biodiversity Working Group, put it plainly: the environmental crisis is human-induced, and human communities must own their responsibility for it. Dr Gama noted that holding the conference in Malawi for the first time marked a significant moment for the country.
A book drawing on the proceedings is expected by the end of 2026 or early 2027. Held every two years, the SAPREJ movement accompanies communities across the global South in this work, and in Zomba, it showed what that accompaniment can look like when theology, science, policy, and lived experience share the same table.
