WCC News: WCC publishes resource on legal tools for climate justice

The newly published resource "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable" provides churches and communities essential legal tools designed to hold financial actors accountable for their role in perpetuating the climate crisis. Resource "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable" introduces communities to climate litigation, a rapidly growing and impactful way of addressing the climate crisis and protect the rights of young people and future generations. 24 March 2025 Developed by the Churches’ Commitments to Children programme of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the resource aims to equip people of faith and partners in WCC’s global constituency with the knowledge on climate litigation, a rapidly growing and impactful way of addressing the climate crisis and protect the rights of young people and future generations. In the foreword of the publication, Archbishop Julio Murray, moderator of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, points out that our faith calls us to speak truth to power and to seize every available legal measure to protect our planet and its inhabitants.  “The urgency of this moment demands that we engage with the law not merely as a tool but as a moral imperative to safeguard human lives and uphold justice,” says Murray. “It is our hope that these resources will empower individuals and communities to advocate for justice effectively, ensuring that future generations inherit a world that is not only livable but thriving.” “Holding financial institutions accountable proves to be one of the most powerful levers to accelerate climate solutions,” says Frederique Seidel, WCC senior programme lead for Children and Climate. “Strategies offered in this resource are an answer to the pleas of the scientific community and young people to tackle root causes of harm to creation, and protect our future generation’s right to life.” WCC has engaged two highly regarded experts to advise on its ongoing work relating to climate law. Harj Narulla is a leading barrister specialising in climate litigation at Doughty Street Chambers and Nicholas Young is a lawyer and DPhil candidate in law researching climate litigation at the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme.  Designing the visual message of the resource, WCC has collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Joel Pett. WCC member churches and partners are warmly encouraged to join the online training on the tools for climate litigation, planned in the coming months. The first of the training sessions will take place on 15 April at 2 pm CET, and will be followed by other sessions accommodating participants from different time zones. Churches and partners who would like to join this project are invited to send a note to churchesforchildren@wcc-coe.org.  Publication "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable" Training empowers churches for legal action to accelerate climate solutions (WCC News release, 11 February 2025) When can legal action be a climate justice tool? WCC project will provide answers (WCC news release, 12 September 2024) Learn more about Churches’ Commitments to Children and Climate-Responsible Banking See more

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 352 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 Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland