World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay welcomed the United Nations Ocean Conference being held in Nice, France, from 9-13 June under the theme, “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.”
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) will be held in Belém, Brazil from 10-21 November 2025. Rev. Romeu Martini, Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, shared how climate change is affecting communities, and his expectations for COP30.
Religious institutions worldwide are confronting their role in perpetuating menstrual stigma while simultaneously emerging as powerful advocates for women's dignity and health equity. The World Council of Churches (WCC) fourth annual Menstrual Hygiene Day webinar on 4 June brought together speakers from multiple continents and faith traditions to examine how patriarchal structures within religious communities have weaponised menstruation for control and marginalisation, whilst demonstrating how scripture, theology, and faith-based action can become tools for justice and liberation.
As the world prepares for decisive climate negotiations at COP30, faith communities in Latin America and the Caribbean have reiterated a powerful call for action during Panama's Climate Week 2025, demanding that governments move beyond promises to deliver concrete solutions for the planet's most vulnerable populations.
As climate change intensifies pressure on global water resources, threatening food security worldwide, a landmark UN expert group meeting in Rome advanced principles for responsible water tenure governance—the legal frameworks that determine who can access, use, and control water resources—that could reshape how communities manage this vital resource by 2027.
As the international community works toward achieving gender equality by 2030, faith leaders are stepping forward to address one of the most overlooked barriers to women's empowerment: menstrual stigma. A joint webinar on 4 June from 15:00-16:30 CEST will explore how religious communities can lead transformative change in making menstruation a normal fact of life globally.
As interconnected crises of land degradation, water scarcity, and food insecurity intensify worldwide, faith communities in India are taking the lead to address these challenges through a holistic "nexus approach." The India Peace Centre, in collaboration with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the National Council of Churches in India, is launching a certificate programme consisting of four educational webinars on the nexus approach to land, water, and food.
At the "World of Work, Place of Hope" event held in Rome on 2 May, faith leaders, economists, and labour representatives gathered to address the intertwined challenges of climate justice and dignified work. Among the speakers, Athena Peralta, director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, highlighted a critical upcoming milestone: COP30 and its focus on just transition.
A training programme to equip churches to address the impact of climate change and global warming on health took place in Chad and the Philippines, two of the most impacted countries in Africa and Asia, from 28-30 April.
Two projects from the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) have been nominated for a World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) prize. The finalists now go to public vote, with the opportunity to have them highlighted during a high-level WSIS summit in July.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) organized a joint seminar on 16 April at the National Council of Churches in India in collaboration with the India Peace Center, Nagpur, India. The seminar launched a series of webinars on land, water, and food to address climate justice through a nexus approach.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Africa Regional Programme Office, Abuja, in collaboration with the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, convened a two-day Human Rights Training Workshop for church leaders and partners from the Niger Delta.
Exploring how churches can do more for climate justice, the World Council of Churches (WCC), in cooperation with the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh, organized a climate litigation training in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 11 April.
During a visit with churches and communities in Bangladesh, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay met with religious leaders, participated in interfaith dialogues, and expressed solidarity for all those in Bangladesh coping with devastation from climate change.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with the peace and justice efforts from Bangladesh’s interim government.
As the World Council of Churches (WCC) debuted its new resource on legal tools for climate justice, the focus was on hope for children—a hope strongly backed by knowledge on how churches can hold financial actors accountable for their role in perpetuating the climate crisis.
The Feast of Creation initiative represents a profound ecumenical opportunity as Christian churches worldwide consider elevating 1 September from a World Day of Prayer for Creation to a liturgical feast across denominations. A key milestone in this journey will be the upcoming Nicaea Centenary and Creation Day Conference in Assisi in May, where church actors will discuss pathways in this important process. A new WCC podcast explores the vision of the Feast of Creation initiative, highlighting its significance as a potential gesture of Christian unity and ecological commitment.
At the 6th Meeting of the Ecumenical Panel on a New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA) held in Geneva from 25-27 March, faith leaders and experts united to call for a radical reformation of economic systems that prioritize justice, sustainability, and the needs of the most vulnerable.
Prof. Rastko Jovic, from Serbia, reflects in a WCC video interview about the World Council of Churches (WCC) Just Community of Women and Men programme—and how using theology to underscore justice will inspire churches globally.
This year, the 69th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women gathered to review the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, marking 30 years since its creation. I had the pleasure of attending as part of the WCC delegation, and have left with an overwhelming feeling of “our work is only just beginning.”
