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The 6^th biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2015 is by Susan Smith, a Professor of Law and Director of the Certificate Program in Sustainability at the Willamette University, USA. She teaches environment law, including water law and is a water activist. She represents the United Church of Christ at the International Reference Group of the Ecumenical Water Network of the WCC. In this reflection she highlights that the kingdom of God/ paradise can be witnessed here on this earth, if we make water available for all for their basic sustenance with dignity, contrary to the model where water is “harnessed as fuel for the engine of economic growth to serve the twin gods of economic efficiency and profit”.

The biblical reflection for the first of the Seven Weeks for Water 2015 is by Kuzipa Nalwamba, an ordained minister of the United Church of Zambia (UCZ), who is currently pursuing her PhD from University of Pretoria. She highlights  the undeniable underlining gap between men and women’s political, economic and social conditions, contribution and participation,  which also gets reflected on access to water. More often than not, the burden of meeting water needs for the families, unfairly rests on the women.

Statement of the Ecumenical Water Network, World Council of Churches, Jerusalem, June, 2014.

The fourth Biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2014 is by the “Green Bishop” Geoff Davies, executive director of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environmental Institute. Citing several examples from the Bible, he brings a strong critique of the anthropocentric  understanding of our theology  and  encourages us to become “earthkeepers”. He also strongly advocates that water  is a gift of God and no one should be denied of this life giving resource.

The third Biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2014 is by Guillermo Kerber, the World Council of Churches programme executive for Care for Creation and Climate Justice. Based on a personal experience of a pilgrimage on water in the Bible, he underscores water as the “source of life” and introduces water as the protagonist of crucial moments in the history of people’s lives in the Bible.

The second Biblical reflection of the Seven Weeks for Water 2014 is by Bishop Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Germany. Citing  examples from the Bible, he highlights that water is absolutely necessary for life and that everybody has the right of free access to water for their sustenance,  irrespective of their economic status.

The statement "God, lead us to abundant life and peace through water justice" reflecting outcomes of discussions among participants at the strategic consultation of the Ecumenical Water Network held in Berlin, Germany from 10 to12 June 2013

Report of the Consultation on Developing Advocacy Strategies for WCC work on Indigenous Peoples Issues, Church Centre, New York, 21-23 May 2013.

On 7 December at the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), while no agreement has been reached, the World Council of Churches (WCC) delivered a statement to the High-Level Ministerial Segment of COP 18 in Doha, Qatar. The WCC statement delivered to the plenary stressed that “Climate change is happening! It is imperative to act now without more delays in view of the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of climate change.” The statement was read by Metropolitan Serafim of Zimbabwe, from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa.

As a follow-up to the Alternative Globalization Addressing People and Earth (AGAPE) process, which concluded with the AGAPE Call presented at the WCC 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre in 2006, the WCC initiated a programme focused on eradicating poverty, challenging wealth accumulation and safeguarding ecological integrity based on the understanding that Poverty, Wealth and Ecology are integrally related. The AGAPE Call to Action is the result of a six-year process of consultations and regional studies.

From the Conference jointly organized by
Justice and Diakonia, Just and Inclusive Communities, and Mission and Evangelism programmes
of the World Council of Churches
in Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 2-6, 2012

Since COP1, year after year, the World Council of Churches have spoken on behalf of hundreds of churches, church based organisations, ecumenical movements, and faith based movements throughout the world, that work daily with communities whose lives and livelihoods are severely affected by climate change.

This document arises from the North American consultation on poverty, wealth and ecology sponsored by the World Council of Churches and held in Calgary, Alberta from 6 to 11 November 2011. This consultation that included representatives from Christian confessions in Canada and the United States of America along with representatives from other ecumenical organizations and local and global ecumenical partners took place at a time of deep global financial crisis and people’s resistance around the world. It is directed to the World Council of Churches, its member churches and partner organizations and all who share in the ideals and goals of this conference.

Believing that the Earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord implies that all of creation lies at the heart of God. In these times of violent crisis of eco-systems we confess that all of creation is groaning for liberation and these cries are the loudest from forests and forest communities. As the participants of the international conference on Forests: Our Good Neighbour held at the CSI Synod Centre, Chennai from the 24th to the 26th of October 2011 affirm that eco-justice ministries forms an integral part of the mission of the church. We are called to witness in the context of deforestation, global warming, pollution, natural resource depletion; species extinctions and habitat destructions that are affecting the whole community of creation especially forest communities.

The Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment and Human Rights is an informal group of faith-based NGOs that gathered to reaffirm the responsibility of each faith and spiritual tradition to care for the environment and play a role in addressing climate change and its impact on the human rights of the world's population.

Brief report from the meeting of the WCC's Working Group on Care for Creation and Climate Justice Kingston, Jamaica, 15-17 May 2011

Presentation on Climate Justice and Human Rights by Theodor Rathgeber at the meeting of the WCC Working Group on Climate Change held immediately before the IEPC in Kingston.

The psalmist once declared, “The Earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it” (Psalm 24:1). From generation to generation, we have a lifespan to enjoy and steward God’s Earth. However, in recent decades, industries that unsustainably extract from God’s Earth have been spinning out of control. Their actions challenge God's sovereignty over the gifts that were created for sharing by  all Creation and for all generations. Extractive and other industries have been privatizing the natural gifts of God’s Earth and have excluded local communities from sharing in these gifts.

Letter by non-governmental organizations concerned with the HRC's Action on Climate Change