Recent years have witnessed a seismic shift in the global landscape of climate litigation, with youth activists taking center stage in the fight for environmental justice.
Three World Council of Churches (WCC) commissions—the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Commission on Health and Healing, and Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development—are jointly meeting from 5-8 March in Geneva to explore the theme "Faith and Effective Witness and Diakonia in the 21st Century.”
Jackline Makena Mutuma is clergy with the Methodist Church in Kenya and a student at the Ecumenical Institute at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, where her current research is related to the intersection of modern day slavery and global warming. She was also recently elected as one of the vice moderators of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order. In a WCC interview, she reflects on the urgent issue of preventing modern slavery.
In a message after COP28, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay reflected more deeply on the disappointments, successes, and future agenda related to climate justice.
A COP28 side event on 10 December, entitled “Faith communities have a moral imperative to address Water-food-climate Justice,” reimagined a world in which climate action policies help create a habitable world for all.
Faith communities have delivered a statement to COP28, expressing their alarm over the over the accelerating climate emergency, and calling for phasing out fossil fuels.
Events with involvement of the World Council of Churches and ecumenical partners at the COP28 conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 30 November - 12 December.
With COP28 beginning on 30 November in Dubai, faith communities are ready to press for phasing out fossil fuels, push for climate justice, and present a united front.
A symposium held on World Children’s Day, hosted by FELM, the World Council of Churches, and other partners, gave an overview of the Churches’ Commitments to Children programme, an initiative of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Churches and UNICEF.
An online event hosted by Arigatou International, UNICEF, the World Council of Churches (WCC), and other partners lifted up young voices on the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children 2023—voices expressing grave concern about the impact of both war and climate change.
On 27 October Korean Theology Forum on Climate Crisis organized a conference “The Response of the WCC to the Climate Crisis and its Policy for Carbon Neutrality” for the formation of church leaders, pastors and students interested in ways to connect local activities to the global horizon. The conference was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.
Seeking to join efforts with those committed to ensure a just and sustainable future for the continent, representatives from World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches in Latin America gathered at the WCC central committee in June to identify common concerns.
Thirteen-year old Ellyanne Chlystun-Githae has a serious message for the adults in the world: “While you are worrying about whether you have enough money to retire, people my age are worried about surviving in a world that is rapidly warming.”
Thirteen-year-old Ellyanne Chlystun-Githae Wanjiku, from Kenya, gave a clarion call during a 9 May webinar on climate responsible banking: “The children are not afraid to follow the money,” she said—and that means learning about responsible banking and influencing policy.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay commented on the synthesis of the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released 20 March.
Radically impatient. This is a common sentiment among young people across different backgrounds and regions of the world, criticizing the ongoing inaction of many world leaders, people of power and influence, including the church, on the issue of the climate emergency.
As the world prepares to gather for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, Christian organizations from Africa, Europe, and North America have committed to work together to end the persistent hunger crisis, worsened by climate change.
Programme executive for Child Rights Frederique Seidel represented the World Council of Churches (WCC) as a keynote speaker in the session announcing the 2022 Keeling Curve Prize Winners.
An interfaith statement developed at Stockholm+50, “Faith Values and Reach - Contribution to Environmental Policy,” was signed by representatives of various faith-based organizations and Indigenous cultures across the world, including the World Council of Churches, and directed to the governments, UN entities, civil society, and all stakeholders of the “Stockholm+50” processes.
