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At the Second United Nations Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights, human rights defenders from Colombia and Guatemala exposed degrading environmental, ecological, economic and social impacts on indigenous communities. These impacts are consequences of the projects run by multinational companies in a number of countries.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has called upon its worldwide member churches to join its delegation at the COP 19 climate change negotiations in Warsaw in a fast in solidarity with the poor and vulnerable disproportionately affected by extreme weather events.

In order to build on its work for the protection of climate refugees, the WCC joins an innovative campaign “Postcards from the Frontlines” aiming to achieve urgently needed recognition and protection for climate refugees around the world.

A newly established ecumenical panel of economic experts seeks to develop advocacy strategies for churches working to realize ethical, just and sustainable systems of economics and finance.

While reflecting on the theme of the WCC upcoming assembly in Busan, Indian churches stressed the importance of celebrating life in fullness, vibrancy, dynamism and fervour irrespective of caste, creed, colour, class, gender or ethnicity.

The WCC invites its member churches to join a global call to action against corruption – which impacts poor people the most. Studies have shown that every year over 1 trillion US dollars go missing from the global economy through bribes, dishonest deals and tax evasion.

Nine theologians met in Geneva, 31 May and 1 June, to explore critical theological tools and insights supportive of new economic arrangements.

A seminar at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland gathered diverse reflections on eco-theology, care for the creation and climate change, and how to build a sustainable world. The contributors included Christian theologians and activists as well as youth.

In a talk during the German Protestant Kirchentag in Hamburg, the WCC general secretary stressed the leading role of churches worldwide in the process of establishing justice and an ecologically-friendly way of life.

At the recent World Social Forum, ecumenical voices warned about the grave consequences of extraction of natural resources and mining, which they say generate a tremendous amount of social and ecological debt.

Church representatives at a recent Oikotree Global Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa stressed the need to support peoples'€™ movements promoting justice in the economy and ecology, a concern, they say, that lies at the heart of the faith.

In Africa, trade, aid and investments from the European Union (EU), United States (US) and China have not fully addressed the roots of poverty, inequality and ecological degradation. Churches, therefore, need to engage in a “development dialogue” to support alternative economic agendas, which can help eradicate poverty, while safeguarding Africa’s natural riches.

How we understand God figures directly in how we treat our planet and its inhabitants, asserts a group of theologians in the newest issue of The Ecumenical Review.

In La Paz, an ecumenical delegation delivered to Bolivian government officials a statement on ethical principles for a new global economic system. The statement was received by Bolivian minister of the presidency Juan Ramon Quintana at the government palace on 9 January.

What will the world look like if we continue careening down a slide of eco-injustice? Ninth graders in South Africa have some idea. In a campaign organized by Suwi Siwila, the students pretended they were living in the future, writing a description to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

On 7 December at the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where no agreement has been reached so far, the World Council of Churches (WCC) delivered a statement to the High-Level Ministerial Segment of COP 18 in Doha, Qatar.

Negotiations in Doha have achieved little in the way of a fair and binding treaty that could reverse the current trends in climate change. This was the observation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) delegates at the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 18.

By Susan Kim (*)

Observing World Toilet Day in the village of Parja Suku in Odisha, India, brought forward the painful reality of many communities around the world where good, hygienic sanitation facilities are lacking.