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A 21 January World Economic Forum session on how food choices can become a catalyst for positive change became an opportunity for World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit to present “Ten Commandments” of food to the gathered business and political leaders.

Following the WCC/UN High Level Conference on the Refugee Crisis in Europe, which took place at the Ecumenical Centre Geneva on 18-19 January, a statement has been issued entitled "Europe’s Response to the Refuge Crisis, From Origin to Transit, Reception and Refuge, A Call for Shared Responsibility and Coordinated Action”.

Edward Dommen has been honoured for writing A Peaceable Economy, his 2014 book on the potential for peacemaking through economics. The work appears in the Voices and Visions series of WCC Publications, the World Council of Churches book publishing programme.

International humanitarian and development faith based networks have urged governments preparing for next week's COP21 United Nations climate summit in Paris to do their outmost to reach a fair, binding, and ambitious agreement as vulnerable people continue their daily struggle to adapt to the increasing adverse effects of climate change.

During the 4th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, the WCC, in collaboration with the ACT Alliance and Lutheran World Federation, organized a side-event on “Faith-based organizations’ contribution to the protection of communities’ land rights: lessons learnt and good practices from Africa, Asia and Latin America” at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva.

A special service organized by the WCC at the Ecumenical Centre chapel in Geneva, Switzerland, dedicated prayers to the United Nations post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, meant to eliminate extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change and water scarcity by 2030.

The WCC has joined over 30 leaders from major world religions and heads of global faith-based organizations today in launching a call to action to end extreme poverty by 2030, a goal shared with the World Bank Group.

The adverse impact of business activities on the lives of members of the local population in Colombia and El Salvador was highlighted by the WCC-sponsored participants at the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights.

The opening of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago was one of the most dramatic symbols of the global changes sweeping across the world in 1989.

The WCC general secretary, following a session on climate change at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, stressed the “significant role of financial policy-making by the states in addressing climate change.”

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.

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.

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.

Many church and civil society representatives have expressed disappointment over the lack of vision and ambition in the outcomes of the Rio+20 summit, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this June. Yet the affirmation of the human right to water and sanitation is one aspect among others in the results that the future work of the ecumenical movement for sustainability and eco-justice can build on.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has been playing an active role in the two major events that are taking place in Rio from 12 to 23 June: the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio+20, and the People’s Summit.

The dramatic events of 2011 brought an increased focus on the relevance of the church in pursuing just peace, said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit , general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) this week in Geneva.

In a statement read on 9 December to government members from around the world at the United Nations climate summit in Durban, South Africa, the World Council of Churches (WCC) reaffirmed the need for a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to effectively address climate change effects on vulnerable communities.

“This is the only home we have,” said Archbishop Desmond Tutu referring to the crucial significance of our planet and its survival. He was speaking in an interfaith rally in Durban, urging the United Nations conference on climate change (COP17) to deliver a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to address climate change effectively.

While staff of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and sister organizations such as the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are preparing for the COP17 meeting for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa next week, the ecumenical community in Brazil is starting to think about 2012 when the UN conference Rio+20 will assess the outcomes of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).