Tuesday, October 20, 2026

EARTH Fall 2026

EARTH:

Earth Action, Reflection, Theology, and Hope

The Nature of AI

“AI is neither artificial nor intelligent. “[There is an] enormous environmental footprint – the minerals, the energy, the water – that drives AI. This is the opposite of artificiality. It’s profound materiality.” - Kate Crawford, author and scholar

When petroleum products first became widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was no moral debate about their benefits versus their harms. Oil was a miracle lying under our feet that would revolutionize civilization for everyone’s good.

Today, we can’t claim the same naivete about AI. It has already permeated our lives. (The quote above was offered to me by Google AI.) We see its benefits, but also its inherent harms, especially to the environment.

Unless our technology-based civilization collapses, AI won’t go away. That’s why it’s important for people of faith who care about Mother Earth to become educated and demand accountability and action before we reach the point a greater enviromental crises than we already face.

The articles, prayers, and discussion in this newsletter offer few answers, but they ask important questions, and that is the first step toward changing our present course.

Eric Diekhans
Editor

Science and Faith

As artificial intelligence races ahead of our ability to control it, could the 20th-century philosopher and Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin offer wisdom for our technological age? Nancy Corson Carter explores his vision of an interconnected humanity united by love—and challenges Christians to put faith into action to protect our shared future and the Earth we call home.

The Hidden Environmental Cost of AI

Artificial intelligence may seem to exist in an invisible cloud, but its real-world footprint reaches deep into the Earth—from mineral mining and energy-hungry data centers to the water resources communities depend on. Mark Douglas calls for an ecosystem approach to AI that acknowledges these costs, pursues environmental justice, and harnesses technology to help protect the natural world.

AI: Climate Solution or Environment Threat

Artificial intelligence offers powerful new ways to predict climate disasters, protect forests, and advance clean energy—but its enormous appetite for electricity, water, and land comes at a steep environmental cost.

Video by David Barstow

A panel discussion with Rev. Mary Beene, Hildegard von Bingen, ChatGPT, Claude, and Saint Francis of Assisi with a focus on the environmental effects of AI. An episode in a series in which live human beings, ancient theologians, and AI chatbots talk about topics that are important to people of faith, and to the future of the world.

Click below to watch the discussion

A Prayer in the Anthropocene

Living God, Creator Spirit, present with us now:

in Christ, we pray, please put us in our place—

our place as one more primate among hundreds,

one more vertebrate among tens of thousands,

one more species among many millions,

humans within the community of your creation.

Put us in our place as disciples of Jesus,

near to the world’s wounds,

seeking new ways to love and care for our neighbors

in a time of climate change—

struggling as a church to respond

to the demands of justice in an atmosphere

of hate and violence and inequality—

trying to speak the truth of the Word

in a culture of lies.

Put us in our place, which is to say,

hold us in your grace

and guide us as a community, a movement, a church

to seek justice,

love kindness,

and walk humbly with you.

Amen.

Sam Hamilton-Poore

with gratitude for the life and work of Holmes Rolston III

Sam Hamilton-Poore is vice moderator of Presbyterians for Earth Care.

PCUSA Resources

Find more videos and written resources about AI here:

Click Here

WCC news: Pacific churches reject US call to end UN decolonization mandate

The Pacific Conference of Churches, in a message on 19 October, rejected a US call to end the mandate of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization.

Rev. James Shri Bhagwan, PCC general secretary (right), and Dr Sivendra Michael, Fiji’s permanent secretary for Environment and Climate Change. Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC

20 October 2026

“Decolonisation is complete when the peoples still on the list have freely determined their future,” the message reads. “The Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism ends in 2030; this is a time to accelerate the work, not abolish it.”

The right of peoples to self-determination is not a matter of opinion, emphasized the message. “The International Court of Justice, most recently in its 2019 Chagos advisory opinion, has treated Resolution 1514 as declaratory of the customary right to self-determination,” the text reads. “To call the foundation of the UN decolonisation process ‘non-binding’ is to tell colonised peoples that their rights are optional.”

The message, signed by PCC general secretary Rev. James Shri Bhagwan, stresses that international oversight remains necessary.

"Pacific churches have stood for a nuclear-free and independent Pacific for more than five decades,” reads the text. “Our region still carries the fallout of nuclear testing in Mā’ohi Nui and the Marshall Islands.”

The peoples of the territories deserve better than to be used in other governments’ political campaigns, the message notes. “That applies to every government, administering powers included,” the text reads. “The peoples of our region are not asking for favours. They are asking for a promise made in 1960 to be kept.”

Read the full message

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.

Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press
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WCC News: WCC contributes insights, statements at UN 63rd Human Rights Council

As the UN Human Rights Council closed, the World Council of Churches (WCC) looked back on outcomes related to its contributions and statements.

The Palace of Nations (Palais des Nations), home of the United Nations Office at Geneva in Switzerland. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC

20 October 2026

Climate and environment

In the area of climate and environment, on 7 September, the WCC co-organized a side event related to climate finance, the money that helps countries cut emissions and cope with impacts, and how that money should come as grants, not debt-creating loans. The event, “Climate Finance for Human Rights, Resilience, and Justice,” was held in Geneva, convened by Franciscans International, the World Council of Churches, and six other partners.

In other outcomes related to climate and environment, the mandate of the special rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes was renewed by a resolution adopted by consensus. The resolution has stronger language to ground the mandate in the language of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, and has a new emphasis on emerging global negotiations on plastics.

A resolution on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation was adopted by consensus. It pays attention to the rising cost of water, and a new emphasis on wastewater, pollution, and emerging contaminants. The text develops language from previous resolutions concerning menstrual health and hygiene, stigma, and shame related to menstruation, and the particular vulnerability of women and girls to violence while collecting water or accessing sanitation facilities and in humanitarian emergencies.

West Papua

The WCC joined two statements delivered by Franciscans International, on the situation of human rights in West Papua. On 21 September, the statement expressed concern about the heavy military presence and ongoing security operations in some regencies of West Papua which have caused the displacement of over 120,000 civilians. Many are sheltering in forests and host communities, with limited or no humanitarian access. The statement also expressed serious alarm about the food and energy-related National Strategic Project in South Papua, particularly in Merauke Regency, which is clearing more than 2 million hectares of rainforest and swampland critical to the lives of Indigenous Papuans, without their free, prior, and informed consent.

The statement urged the Indonesian government to immediately re-evaluate the National Strategic Project, pending a comprehensive environmental and social impact assessment, and conduct a free, prior, and informed consent consultation process with Indigenous communities.

The second statement, delivered on 23 September by an Indigenous woman from West Papua during the dialogue with the special rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, described the struggle of Indigenous Papuan women to access quality, affordable sexual, and reproductive healthcare services. In the highlands of West Papua, Indigenous women walk for hours or days to give birth or access basic healthcare services and then face administrative barriers, stigma, and racism. The statement urged the Indonesian Government to urgently address the presence of the military in and around healthcare facilities, in particular the use of community health centres as military posts, and to take steps to ensure adequate staffing of healthcare facilities and medical supplies in conflict areas.

On 24 September, the WCC joined a screening at the Geneva Graduate Institute, of a film “Pesta Bagi – Colonialism in our time,” which invites reflection on the enduring impacts of colonialism in West Papua, and how the historical domination continues, impacting the land, identity, culture, and natural resources of the Papuans. The screening was followed by a dialogue with three Indigenous West Papuan human rights defenders.

Mozambique

The Universal Periodic Review of Mozambique took place in May 2026. The WCC had co-sponsored a report prepared by Franciscans International which focused on violent extremism and the deteriorating humanitarian situation for internally displaced people in Cabo Delgado, the particular impact on women and children, and human rights violations in connection with the extraction of natural resources.

At the 63rd Human Rights Council, the outcome report of the Universal Periodic Review of Mozambique was adopted on 25 September. The WCC co-sponsored statements delivered by Franciscans International, as well as a statement delivered by the World Evangelical Alliance which proposed steps to protect freedom of religion or belief, and to improving the prevention of, and response to, conflict-related sexual violence.

Marshall Islands

The UN Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a third biannual technical resolution on the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands.
The resolution supports a transitional justice framework—calling on the Marshall Islands, the US, the UN, and stakeholders to work together to disclose the truth, provide full reparations, honor victims, and prevent further environmental or health harm.

During the session, in the lead-up to this adoption, several events took place with the active participation of the WCC.

On 22 September, the WCC co-sponsored an event organised by the Marshall Islands government that addressed the human rights impacts of nuclear testing across the region.

On 29 September, the WCC cohosted a side event organised by the United Church of Christ (US). The event provided an opportunity to hear Marshallese voices, both those still living in the Marshall Islands, and members of the diaspora living in the US.

On 30 September, presidential envoy for nuclear justice and human rights Senator David Anitok met with WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, reaffirming the deep-rooted partnership between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the WCC.

On 1 October, the Human Rights Council convened a dialogue on the Nuclear Legacy in the Marshall Islands that brought together government, UN, and civil society representatives. The WCC delivered a statement during the civil society segment, raising some of the concerns which had been shared during a series of consultations with diaspora churches.

Human Rights Council adopts resolution on nuclear legacy in Marshall Islands (WCC news release, 20 October 2026)

WCC general secretary, envoy from Marshall Islands reaffirm stand for nuclear justice (WCC news release, 07 October 2026)

Nuclear justice in the Pacific: Churches do what governments often are not able to (WCC interview, 30 September 2026)

Faith groups carry a grants-not-loans demand toward COP31 (WCC news release, 9 September 2026)