WCC News: Faith communities chart ethical path for COP30 climate action in Kenya

The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined faith leaders, scientists, and grassroots actors on 22 October for the Kenya Pre-COP30 Dialogue. Participants from around the world debated how faith can make climate action more just at the grassroots level. Athena Peralta, director of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, called on faith communities to advance debt justice through the "Turn Debt into Hope" campaign and invited collaboration with the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action. The WCC will carry these concerns to COP30, Peralta said. Photo: Oikodiplomatique 29 October 2025 OikoDiplomatique convened the hybrid event with the University of Nairobi's Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. The dialogue's recommendations will inform the Global Ethical Stocktake, a process under the COP30 Presidency that gathers ethical perspectives and recommendations on climate action from various stakeholders, including faith communities. Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, chair of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission of Kenya and former general secretary of the WCC, delivered the keynote. He framed the gathering as part of an ecumenical legacy linking faith to environmental stewardship and emphasized that humanity is called to heed the "divine imperative" to preserve the integrity of God's creation. Deep collaborative action is now critically important, he said. Christians, Muslims, and practitioners of African traditional faiths opened the event with prayers, then debated how global climate policy affects Kenyan villages and what practical steps can build resilience. Dr Alan Channer, co-director of OikoDiplomatique, noted that Kenya has already taken a lead in climate action. "Over 80% of Kenya's electricity comes from renewable sources, compared to less than 25% in the United States," he said. Caption & credits But Kenya's climate leadership extends beyond government policy into communities. Two women from Kenya's coast and arid north described faith-led climate work in their communities. Rev. Jane Jilani, cofounder of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics, described coastal women restoring mangrove forests while facing barriers to land ownership and safe resource use. Youth leader Mariam Abdirashid, founder of Roots of Hope CBO in Malkadaha, Isiolo County, recounted how she mobilized an imam, parents, and students to secure 400 tree seedlings from the Kenya Forestry Service for a school re-greening project. "One tree is not enough for the hope we need," she said. Frederick Ouma, from Kenya's Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry and a member of the Africa Group of Negotiators, reminded the group of the political realities of multilateral talks. "Faith observers are needed in COP processes to ensure negotiations remain tethered to public interest and moral responsibility," Ouma said. Key recommendations emerged from the dialogue: participants asked for debt relief and reformed climate finance, urged faith institutions to become formal partners in county and national disaster risk reduction and climate planning, and demanded prioritization of land restoration that respects local custodianship and Indigenous spiritual frameworks. “Faith communities can open sanctuaries as shelters during disasters and mobilize youth for restoration projects - making them go-to partners for climate work,” Peralta said. The WCC stands ready to carry the priorities from this dialogue into the global conversation on ethics, resilience, and climate action. Sustainability and Economy of Life Turn Debt into Hope campaign 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 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 Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland