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Amid a busy COP27, WCC News walks and talks with Collins Shava, a young Lutheran from Zimbabwe who followed many issues from a personal perspective.

Lindsey Fielder Cook, representative for the Human Impacts of Climate Change Programme for the Quaker United Nations Office, shared the ways in which ecumenical work gives her strength in her work for climate justice.

Jocabed Solano is attending COP27, bringing an Indigenous perspective from Panama and from Latin America.

Below, Christian Brooks, from the Presbyterian Church (USA), reflects on her work at COP27, and how faith informs her sense of unified advocacy for the climate.

Rev. Dr Lesmore G. Ezekiel, director of programmes at the All Africa Conference of Churches, reflects below on how people of faith are inspired and motivated to take action on climate change, not only at COP27 but beyond.

Im Omar—as named after her eldest son—mother of six, must scrape every day for something most people take for granted: water. For her, water is scarce—and it’s directly connected to her family’s livelihood. 

As a severe drought triggered a humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, churches and several humanitarian organizations there urged foreign debt suspension to enable the countries to tackle the catastrophe.

Amid a warning that a famine is “at the doorstep” in eastern Africa, church leaders are re-stressing urgent action to save millions of people caught in a drought described as the worst in 40 years.

A consultation for theological institutions in Uganda, held 12-15 September, harnessed the contribution of theological institutions in promoting gender equity in the context of HIV and sexual and gender-based violence.

At a workshop held at the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly, participants expressed grave concerns over the fact that, although public health experts warned about the dangers of ignoring other epidemiological efforts at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries had to reshuffle critical medical resources, thereby preventing routine treatment of HIV.

The importance of water for Christians around the world cannot be overemphasized.  From Genesis 1:1, where we read that “a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” to its sacramental role in baptism and the Eucharist, water is integral to the faith.

When the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, churches had already been responding to humanitarian need in the country for eight years, since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.  The work being undertaken by churches in meeting the needs of those displaced by the war is not new, but the scale is staggering as 14 million people have been displaced in the six months since the invasion began.

Is a successful dialogue between churches and politicians possible and what should it be based on? Can the European Green Deal inspire similar actions in other regions? What Christian values can contribute to the universal aspiration for a sustainable future?

The groaning of a Creation awaiting renewal provided context for ecumenical common prayer at the 11^th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Karlsruhe, Germany on the morning of Monday 5 September. The theme for morning prayers was “Christ’s love means compassion for life”.