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50 young people from 24 countries have sent a message of hope to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2023. The message was delivered during a special ceremony during the second edition of the Emerging Peacemakers Forum, held at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland.

The World Council of Churches is standing behind a call for action on climate justice issued by global youth religious organizations. The appeal—initiated by the World Student Christian Federation in Europe, Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe Network, the Lutheran World Federation, the European Christian Environmental Network, and Junge Buddhisthe Union—is drawing other organizations in solidarity to come together for climate justice.

After 52 participants from 22 countries from different confessional and faith traditions gathered 16-19 June in Wuppertal, Germany, they have released "Kairos for Creation – Confessing Hope for the Earth”.

The voices of young people will ring through the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on 21 November as part of global celebrations for World Children’s Day linked to other events involving the World Council of Churches (WCC) in different places.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stressed that zero carbon emissions must be achieved by 2050 by the world if we are to avoid catastrophic climate impacts such severe and recurrent droughts, record-breaking storms as well as the inundation of small island states and coastal cities.

World Mental Health Day event on breaking the chains of stigma in mental health and restoring human dignity for persons with mental illness was held the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, sponsored by Frascarita International, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Fondation d'Harcourt and the Belgium government.

The 21st International AIDS Conference, which concluded July 22, had its normal dose of science speak, with seminars and workshops ranging from new vaccine trials to the testing of a vaginal ring that appears to dramatically lower the risk of HIV infection in women.

“Science and religion can provide solutions to poverty and injustice.” This was the theme of the 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Alternatives for Poverty Reduction and Ecological Justice (SAPREJ) in Kampala, Uganda, on 4-7 April. The conference was organized by the Kyambogo University and the WCC economic and ecological justice programme.

As organizations worldwide intensify their work on issues of climate justice, and the clock is ticking for new climate commitments to take shape, members of the WCC Working Group on Climate Change have gathered for a four-day meeting to strategize for effective climate justice action and for strong participation of faith-based initiatives at COP21.

The WCC held its first Youth Virtual Conference titled “Live your Faith!” on 12 October, offering young Christians from around the world an opportunity to reflect on issues of concern for their communities, including eco-justice, migration and peace.

A seminar at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland gathered diverse reflections on eco-theology, care for the creation and climate change, and how to build a sustainable world. The contributors included Christian theologians and activists as well as youth.

Hendrew Lusey has never forgotten the words he first heard at a World Council of Churches (WCC) workshop on human sexuality in 2002. At that time, he had recently been appointed the regional coordinator for central Africa with the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA).

A consultation on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology in Europe organized by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) in cooperation with churches in Hungary ended on Friday 12 November by adopting a "Budapest Call for Climate Justice".

By Annegret Kapp (*)