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Amid a busy COP27, WCC News walks and talks with Collins Shava, a young Lutheran from Zimbabwe who followed many issues from a personal perspective.

Lindsey Fielder Cook, representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change Programme for the Quaker United Nations Office, shared the ways in which ecumenical work gives her strength in her work for climate justice.

Jocabed Solano is attending COP27, bringing an Indigenous perspective from Panama and from Latin America.

Below, Christian Brooks, from the Presbyterian Church (USA), reflects on her work at COP27, and how faith informs her sense of unified advocacy for the climate.

Rev. Dr Lesmore G. Ezekiel, director of programmes at the All Africa Conference of Churches, reflects below on how people of faith are inspired and motivated to take action on climate change, not only at COP27 but beyond.

As a severe drought triggered a humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, churches and several humanitarian organizations there urged foreign debt suspension to enable the countries to tackle the catastrophe.

Amid a warning that a famine is “at the doorstep” in eastern Africa, church leaders are re-stressing urgent action to save millions of people caught in a drought described as the worst in 40 years.

Als am 24. Februar 2022 die russische Großinvasion der Ukraine begann, hatten die Kirchen bereits acht Jahre lang seit der Annexion der Krim im Jahr 2014 humanitäre Hilfe im Land geleistet. Die Arbeit, die die Kirchen durchführen, um die Bedürfnisse von Kriegsvertriebenen zu erfüllen, ist nicht neu, der Umfang hingegen ist enorm, denn in den sechs Monaten seit Beginn der Invasion wurden 14 Millionen Menschen vertrieben.

When the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, churches had already been responding to humanitarian need in the country for eight years, since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.  The work being undertaken by churches in meeting the needs of those displaced by the war is not new, but the scale is staggering as 14 million people have been displaced in the six months since the invasion began.

Is a successful dialogue between churches and politicians possible and what should it be based on? Can the European Green Deal inspire similar actions in other regions? What Christian values can contribute to the universal aspiration for a sustainable future?

Die Zeichen stehen an der Wand. Das letzte Jahrzehnt war das wärmste seit Untersuchungen begannen. Von den 20 wärmsten Jahren ereigneten sich 19 seit 2000. Und die Daten deuten darauf hin, dass der Grund hierfür im von menschlicher Aktivität hervorgerufenen Anstieg von Treibhausgasen liegt. Wissenschaftler auf der ganzen Welt haben davor gewarnt, dass die Welt sich, sollte es so weitergehen, bereits 2030 um 1,5˚C erwärmt haben könnte. Das weniger als zehn Jahre und innerhalb der Lebenserwartung der meisten heute lebenden Menschen.

The groaning of a Creation awaiting renewal provided context for ecumenical common prayer at the 11^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Karlsruhe, Germany on the morning of Monday 5 September. The theme for morning prayers was “Christ’s love means compassion for life”.

The signs are on the wall. The last decade was the warmest on record. Of the 20 warmest years, 19 occurred since 2000. And evidence indicates that this is due to the rise of greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activity. World’s scientists have warned that, at the current rate, the world could cross 1.5˚C hotter as soon as 2030. That’s less than a decade from now, well within the lifespan of most people alive today

„Willst du Klimagerechtigkeit? Dann sag AMEN!“, so der Sprechchor der jungen Erwachsenen am 2. September 2022 auf einem Protestmarsch durch den Brunnen-Ausstellungsbereich der 11. Vollversammlung des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) in Karlsruhe, Deutschland.