World Council of Churches calls for international crime of ecocide

Summary:

• The World Council of Churches (WCC), representing a global fellowship of 352 churches and 580 million Christians, has issued a powerful statement urging immediate and coordinated global action to address the intertwined crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. 

• The statement, which calls on the world’s churches and governments to support ecocide legislation and emphasises the role of biodiversity in preserving human well-being and ensuring the planet's resilience to climate impacts, comes ahead of the upcoming UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Colombia and the UN Climate Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan. 

• In the statement, the WCC, which first called for the recognition of an international crime of ecocide at its 11th Assembly in 2022, urges governments to take coordinated action at both national and international levels to substantially increase investments in biodiversity and climate protection, prioritising human rights—especially for indigenous communities—and curbing the influence of corporate lobbying to effectively tackle these global challenges.

• The WCC proposes addressing the existing financing gap in biodiversity conservation by engaging the ‘polluter pays’ principle, implementing debt cancellation for least developed nations, enacting international tax reforms, and reallocating funds from fossil fuel subsidies and military spending.

You can read the World Council of Churches’ Statement on Biodiversity COP16 and Climate COP29 in full here.