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The World Council of Churches (WCC) cosponsored with Laudato Si Research Institute and the World Communion of Reformed Churches, Lutheran World Federation, Anglican Communion, and World Methodist Council an international seminar on “The Feast of Creation and the Mystery of Creation: Ecumenism, Theology, Liturgy, and Signs of the Times in Dialogue,” from 14-16 March at Laudato Si’ Center of Assisi and Pro Civitate Christiana, in Italy.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), on 12 February, submitted comments to the zero draft of the “Pact for the Future,” the envisaged outcome of the UN Summit for the Future.

Though COP28 failed to produce a credible plan to phase out fossil fuels, there is still reason for hope that the world can move toward climate justice, said World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay as COP28 concluded.

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed an assembly of religious leaders gathered at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Centre on 12 December—the day before the opening of the Global Refugee Forum. 

World Council of Churches (WCC) general sectary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay delivered a video message to the United Nations 2023 Water Conference on behalf of the global fellowship of 580 million Christians. The event will take place 22-24 March, in New York.

A webinar, “Climate Justice, Food, and Faith,” on 9 November offered not only practical information on how climate change relates to food insecurity but also a call to change how we view our care for the earth and for hungry people.

As centres of change and strong stakeholders in achieving sustainable development, places of worship must set the example in adopting green infrastructure and energy, a new report says.
People trust the messages and actions disseminated and undertaken by faith-based organizations, according to the report.

As the 4th UN Environment Assembly concluded in Nairobi, Kenya on 15 March, faith leaders at the gathering urged action beyond the resolutions, while warning that the current ecological crisis, if not urgently addressed, could grow to a catastrophe.

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.

On the occasion of the forthcoming 1 September, observed as the "Day for the Protection of Creation", His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issued a message calling upon “all people of good will to undertake the good struggle for the protection of the natural environment and the establishment of solidarity.”

The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network (WCC-EWN) hosted the Brazilian Semiarid Articulation (ASA) on 25 April for a dialogue on human rights and water justice in Brazil. Representatives of the EWN and the ASA discussed human rights within the framework of the right to water, and they also focused on alternatives for sustainable living offered by ASA.

The Ecumenical Patriarch, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, delivered a public address at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 24 April as part of his official visit to Switzerland on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his enthronement as Ecumenical Patriarch and the 50th anniversary of the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy.

The chief cleric of Cairo’s prestigious mosque and university, H.E. Professor Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar al Sharif, has decried the present-day “civilizational crisis” of poverty and insecurity and called for interreligious collaboration to address it.

At a consultation on religion and development on 28 September, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit shared thoughts on an emerging global religion and development agenda. The meeting was convened by the ACT Alliance. Tveit and other participants shared their thoughts on how faith-based and humanitarian groups can work together to help reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Roman Catholic and WCC representatives are forging new ways of working together on today’s most pressing issues.

Inspired by the theme “pilgrimage of justice and peace”, the Central Committee of the WCC, a chief governing body of the Council, has set directions for the work of the Council from 2014 to 2017.

A symbolic act of pouring water into one common vessel, carried out by religious leaders representing Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist faiths, marked the significance of water in various religious traditions. This action took place at the WCC 10th Assembly, currently underway in Busan, Republic of Korea.

In La Paz, an ecumenical delegation delivered to Bolivian government officials a statement on ethical principles for a new global economic system. The statement was received by Bolivian minister of the presidency Juan Ramon Quintana at the government palace on 9 January.