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Water crisis in Tuvalu

On 28 September, the Tuvalu government declared Tuvalu to be in a state of emergency due to water shortage - the result of a five-month drought in the Pacific Island nation.

WCC supports Ecuador’s Yasuni project

After a meeting with Ricardo Patiño, minister of Foreign Affair, Trade and Integration of Ecuador, World Council of Churches (WCC) officials call the Yasuni Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT) initiative of the Ecuador government a courageous model of development.

Raising ethical dimensions in debate on climate justice

Climate change is impacting human life and nature in severe ways. Yet it is the vulnerable who suffer most. As the life of such people is dependent on eco-systems for survival, churches join hands with other faith based organizations to support their cause, stressing an ethical aspect in the debate on climate change.

WCC Executive Committee in Ethiopia exposed to famine situation

The WCC Executive Committee opened its bi-annual meetings Monday 12 September in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a welcoming ceremony by local church leaders and poignant and detailed presentations on the regional humanitarian crisis in Somalia and neighbouring countries.

Time for Creation 2011: Trees and forests shall rejoice

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has joined in a call to observe Thursday 1 September through Tuesday 4 October 2011 as a time for prayer, reflection and re-dedication regarding care for and just use of God’s gifts in nature.

Water conflicts pose threat to global peace

Conflicts over water threaten peace in the world, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, told a gathering in Germany on the banks of the River Danube to mark the end of the WCC’s Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV).

Threats to creation addressed at peace convocation

Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia, is home to more than 11,000 people, whose very existence, which at one time was tied to the ocean and its bounty, is now threatened by rising ocean water levels.

From Chernobyl to tsunami stones: Life-saving lessons on peace convocation agenda

The Chernobyl disaster of 25 years ago remains a human and environmental tragedy so severe the consequences will continue for centuries. Its anniversary this week is especially timely given the current emergency in Japan which echoes some of Chernobyl’s hard lessons. To learn them would honour those who suffer from the past and could save lives in the future.

Building “right relations” between people and with the earth

Jim Hodgson is a journalist with extensive experience in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 2000, Hodgson has worked with the United Church of Canada’s Caribbean and Latin America desk, most recently as programme coordinator for South America and the Caribbean.

“Peace on Earth – Peace with the Earth” is focus for WCC journal

As churches worldwide prepare for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in Jamaica in May, the latest edition of the World Council of Churches (WCC) quarterly journal, Ecumenical Review, will focus on challenges of peacemaking in places as varied as the Middle East and Africa.

Lenten campaign focuses on water and just peace

“Water and Just Peace” will be the theme of this year's Lenten reflections provided by the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN). Starting on Monday 7 March the weekly reflections will explore the connection between access to water, struggles over this precious resource and building just peace.

WCC joins in appeal to guard human rights in the face of climate change

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is among 25 religious and secular organizations who have addressed a letter to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations strongly urging the appointment of a UN special rapporteur or a similar procedure to investigate climate change.  The goal of such an investigation would be to identify “the adverse impacts of climate change for human rights” and make recommendations for further action by international bodies. “Climate justice, a core demand in the WCC climate change work, includes looking at how human rights are protected and enhanced, especially looking at the most vulnerable populations, such as those in Africa, Asia, the Pacific or the Caribbean,” said Dr Guillermo Kerber, the WCC programme executive for climate change. “The WCC has clearly stated that climate change has human rights implications,” he added. “It became clear to us after the COP 15 Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, at Copenhagen in December 2009, that other avenues in the UN system would have to be explored to protect victims of climate change. Having a special procedure on climate change and human rights would be a way to enhance that protection.” The letter to the UN Human Rights Council calls for action to be taken at the council session to be held in June 2011.