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Canadian ecumenist Ralph C. Young, whose career led him from Christian youth work in his native maritime provinces to global ministries of inter-church dialogue and coordination, died in Geneva on 26 November.

“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.

Faith campaigners have presented a total of 1,780,528 signatures gathered worldwide calling for decisive action to curb global warming. The petitions were delivered to leaders of the United Nations COP 21 climate conference beginning its work in Paris.

Violence in the name of religion echoed in the distance, demanding a response, through the November 2015 meeting of the 25-member Executive Committee of the WCC in Bogis-Bossey and nearby Geneva, Switzerland as it planned the work of the Council in the coming years.

The WCC Executive Committee has strongly condemned the latest terror attacks in Paris and Beirut.

The WCC “is moving forward on our common pilgrimage, even as we face many challenges,” general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit affirmed in his semi-annual report to the WCC Executive Committee.

"In COP21 we decide whether the glass is half full or half empty, but the glass must be transparent", tweeted climate activist Yeb Saño at the end of a day full of activities engaging leadership and staff members of the WCC, the Lutheran World Federation and ACT Alliance, at the Ecumenical Centre, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Climate change activist Yeb Saño and other pilgrims will cross the Swiss border on 3 November as part of a 1500km pilgrimage from Rome to Paris demanding a new global climate agreement.

Even before Rev. Dr Solomon Mepaiyeda heard about the Ecumenical Institute at Chateau de Bossey, he knew he wanted to study at a reputable ecumenical institution. “I wanted to contribute to collaborative efforts among Nigerian churches,” said Mepaiyeda, a member of the Anglican Church.

“It would be a scandal if the Climate Conference in Paris would not deliver what is needed,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, during a public event in Lengerich, Germany on 13 October.

“Our hope as Christians rests in our belief that that our world is not destined to disappear but to be transformed, and that human beings capable of self-destruction are also able to unite and to choose that which is good”, reads a statement of the Council of Christian Churches of France focusing on the upcoming meeting of the United Nations on climate change in Paris later this year.

The WCC is facing growing expectations from member churches as well as ecumenical partners and international organizations. These high expectations must be met in a situation of more limited financial resources. This is a result of the changed exchange rates of many other currencies against the Swiss franc, in which the WCC pays its local expenses. With the franc strengthening throughout 2015, there is an urgent need to reduce all costs, including staff costs. This has led to some reductions in the staff, and it also leads to review of the ways of working in the organization.

Hopes and aspirations for peace were expressed on 20 September at the Peace Palace in the Netherlands, site of a “Walk of Peace” held on the second day of the International Week of Peace. The event was organized by the Council of Churches in the Netherlands and PAX, a Dutch peace organization, in cooperation with local churches in The Hague.