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From 2020 to 2021, more than 50 million people were displaced due to weather events and faced risks of trafficking and even death as well as discrimination based on race and gender. This finding emerged from the report of Ian Fry, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, to the 53rd session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva from 19 June-14 July.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), in collaboration with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Soka Gakkai International, and Brahma Kumaris, convened a side event titled "Deliver climate action: Support a Robust Global Stocktake from a human rights and Ethical perspective," on 5 June in Bohn, Germany. The event brought together experts and stakeholders to emphasize the importance of integrating human rights, ethical considerations, and climate justice into the forthcoming Global Stocktake process.

The World Council of Churches and its partners hosted a side event during COP27 that explored “Delivering the promise: How to ensure present and future adaptation needs are addressed.”

Faith-based and civill groups from around the world are amplifying their call for the UN to more formally recognize the tie between climate change and human rights. A webinar on 26 March convened by the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights, reiterated the need for a new position within the UN: a special rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights.

A webinar series on “Human Rights, Ethics and Climate Change,” held in June and July, has offered a variety of perspectives on climate change and human rights from an ethical and spiritual perspective.

As he shared the perspective of an indigenous person at a side event during the 25th Conference of Parties (COP25) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Madrid, Rev. Glen Chebon Kernell, urged people to adopt a deep respect for Mother Earth.

Representatives from multiple faith and religious backgrounds came together in Madrid, Spain on 1 December to find common ground in preparation for the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) 25 in Madrid, Spain.

His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Supreme Head of the Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church, and Catholicos of the East, met with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at St Daniel Monastery in Moscow on 3 September.

His Holiness Catholicos Paulose II thanked Patriarch Kirill for the hospitality, stressing that “forty years have elapsed and now we as primates of our Churches can resume the exchange of visits. Your Holiness, your love and insight have helped to make it possible. Once again, thank you for it”.

Faith-based groups gathered on 2 December, the eve of the opening of the United Nations climate conference, in Katowice, Poland, for an Interfaith Talanoa Dialogue to take stock of the collective global efforts to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Climate change and foreign debt are intersecting human rights issues, and faith communities can contribute to better understanding and addressing these concerns, agreed many who attended a side event held on the occasion of the 39th Human Rights Council at Palais des Nations in Geneva on 18 September.

Faith groups gathered at the Ecumenical Centre on 16 January to evaluate from faith and human rights perspectives the outcomes of the 23rd Conference of Parties (COP 23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They discussed the role of faith-based organizations in the Talanoa Dialogue emerging from COP 23 and began to cooperate for effective and meaningful faith-based engagement in COP 24.

A 25 September panel discussion in Geneva offered compelling examples of how climate change and unethical practices in the extractive industry are robbing people of both their human rights and their human dignity.

The WCC, along with the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights; Franciscans International; and Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University organised a public panel discussion on climate change and human rights from the perspective of ethics, spirituality and justice on 13 February at UN office in Geneva.

Trust and peace-building approaches can lead to more fair, sustainable and effective climate action, showed public discussion on the closing day of UN climate change conference (COP22) in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Joining efforts to explore how to move from dependency on fossil fuel to a sustainable future, faith representatives gathered at the Indonesian Pavilion at COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco on 8 November, for an event hosted by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

“The political leaders of the world are speaking like preachers. May they continue as believers,” said the WCC general secretary at the opening of the UN climate talks in Paris.

Outcomes, disappointments, as well as encouraging signs from the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the Peoples Summit held late last year in Lima, Peru, were discussed at length by representatives of faith communities.

Climate justice has been the focal point of the WCC advocacy strategy at 20th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which concluded on 12 December in Lima, Peru.

“If we are to respond to the ecological crisis in a responsible and substantial way, we must move beyond mere talk to practical action,” said Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in an official message to the Interfaith Summit on Climate Change to be held this week in New York City.

Plans are advancing for the Interfaith Summit on Climate Change, to be held in New York from 21 to 22 September. A new website featuring interfaith perspectives on climate change, highlighting the upcoming summit, has recently gone online.