Feature story
Speakers explored how, in a Europe increasingly defined by fragmentation and overlapping crises – social, political, and environmental – the challenge lies not only in defining shared values, but in delivering them.
Bishop Kari Mangrud Alvsvåg, president of Religions for Peace Europe, European Council of Religious Leaders, is from Norway, and served as input speaker.
“Norway is, in many ways, a secular state and we are a secular population,” she acknowledged, yet at the same time, she posited that the nation is religious.
“In Norway, there is now a discussion in the public sphere about what Christian values are,” said Alvsvåg. “The world needs good and conscious religious leaders who can guide with authority and deep knowledge.”
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Frederique Seidel, WCC senior programme lead for Children and Climate, during the forum discussions, Photo: KAIICID
The world also needs more people who are deeply rooted in the belief that we must come together across religious and ethnic lines, she added.
“Religious leaders such as myself cannot retreat into our respective holy houses and concentrate on religious life—but we must go out of our holy houses,” she said, calling on them to engage “for people, planet, and prosperity for all.”
Respondents explored how value-based investment frameworks can work hand-in-hand to build trust, reduce polarisation, and translate ethical intent into policy impact.
Avenues for collaboration
Frederique Seidel, WCC senior programme lead for Children and Climate, collaborated in a working group addressing the climate emergency.
"We identified avenues for collaboration in addressing root causes of global warming,” she said. “In the closing remarks I underlined how this three-day gathering contained a lot of tangible hope.”
Reflecting on ethical funding for shared futures in a fragmented world, Seidel explained that the new WCC resource "Hope for Children through Climate Justice" is inspired by the quote attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "If you see someone driving into a group of innocent bystanders, I cannot, as a person of faith, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.”
The handbook "Hope for Children" equips people of faith to defend children's and future generations' right to life and a healthy environment.
"Many participants from other religions underlined that their sacred texts contain similar messages,” said Seidel. “Inter-religious collaboration is thus a promising dimension for legal measures to shift current investments into fossil fuel expansion towards sustainable and ethical investments.”
Seidel also underlined that the new Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the climate emergency, and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child's General Comment No. 26, on climate and children, are two powerful new frameworks in the legal landscape, which WCC encourages all people of faith and goodwill to seize in their efforts to protect the lives of children and future generations.
Call to action
The Sixth European Policy Dialogue Forum concluded with a call to action entitled “People, Planet, Prosperity: Building Interfaith Paths to Equity and Climate Justice in Europe.”
The call to action was conceived as a a living document, evolving through reflection and feedback, helping to translate dialogue into concrete commitments.
"It is addressed to religious leaders, institutions and actors, policymakers and decision-makers, civil society and faith-based organizations, the private sector, academia, and international and regional bodies,” reads the call. “Each plays a vital role in shaping Europe’s future.”
The call to action serves as a shared compass, inviting all to walk side-by side-along interfaith and intercultural paths towards more inclusive, cohesive, and sustainable communities across Europe.
“Interreligious and intercultural dialogue offers a way to connect diverse perspectives and collectively reimagine our present and future,” reads the call. “It goes beyond fostering mutual understanding - helping communities recognise the importance of acting according to shared principles and values of peaceful and respectful coexistence, such as human dignity, equity, fraternity, care for one another, and care for the planet.”
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Photo: KAIICID
