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More than 30 young adults coming from different countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will gather in Colombia to reflect and plan actions on eco-justice and peace building. “Young people for Eco-Justice and Peace: The challenge that we accept” will be organized by the World Student Christian Federation in Latin America and the Caribbean (WSCF – LAC), a partner of the World Council of Churches (WCC), in Barranquilla, from 15-18 August.

“It is imperative for churches to invest in the youth of Africa so they can take leadership in addressing these issues in the timeframe of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals”, said Prof. Dr Isabel Phiri, World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary for Diakonia and Public Witness as she spoke to young people attending the first-ever WCC Eco-School in Blantyre, Malawi.

The first ever WCC Eco-School on Water, Food and Climate Justice will be held 24 July to 3 August, hosted by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Blantyre Synod. Applications are now open with a deadline of 11 June (deadline extended).

Delegations from the ACT Alliance, Lutheran World Federation and WCC at the United Nations climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco are jointly demanding a more rapid transition to a low-carbon economy based on clean energy in order to stem rising global temperatures.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Working Group on Climate Change (WGCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fkyse Tveit, WCC general secretary, emphasized the importance of facing climate justice issues with spiritual commitment and multidisciplinary collaborative preparedness. “Christians should look at climate change challenges through the lens of faith and hope in God’s love”, he reflected.

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.

Participants in the 2015 Agape International Political Camp have explored the concept of security and issued a call for a “pedagogy of and for peace” founded on justice.

A new publication provides collected reflections on ecology and ethics, including a chapter by Dr Guillermo Kerber, programme executive for Care for Creation and Climate Justice at the WCC.

The possibility of a new economic framework is the chief focus of the newly published issue of The Ecumenical Review. Informed by years of ecumenical work on the relationship of poverty, wealth and ecology (including the proposal for a “greed line”), the 14 contributors offer an array of insights from specific contexts and religious standpoints – Dalits, South Africans, Latin Americans, Indigenous spirituality, feminist theology and non-Christian religions – into the values and structures that can create an “economy of life” for all.

As organizations worldwide intensify their work on issues of climate justice, and the clock is ticking for new climate commitments to take shape, members of the WCC Working Group on Climate Change have gathered for a four-day meeting to strategize for effective climate justice action and for strong participation of faith-based initiatives at COP21.

The 2014 Annual Review of the World Council of Churches, now published and posted online, reports on the 2014 activities and projects of the council.

Dr Fulata Mbano-Moyo, the WCC programme executive for Women in Church and Society, called on the movement of Christian students to reclaim its radical transforming nature towards a “pilgrimage of gender justice”.

Amidst the reality of tensions often fueled by religions, a group of Christian, Muslim and Jewish youth has formed a multi-faith community. As part of an interfaith summer course sponsored by the WCC, this community wants to work for the protection of creation – a concern they say is common to all faith traditions.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.

The WCC held its first Youth Virtual Conference titled “Live your Faith!” on 12 October, offering young Christians from around the world an opportunity to reflect on issues of concern for their communities, including eco-justice, migration and peace.

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.

By Susan Kim (*)

By Susan Kim (*)

Youth engagement in eco-justice is expanding in scope and sophistication, says Marcelo Leites, Latin American and Caribbean regional secretary for the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF).

Joakim Book Jonnson, a salesman for a security company and a member of the Church of Sweden, transformed his urban commuter life when he decided to leave, at least temporarily, no ecological footprint.