WCC INTERVIEW: Yvan Maillard Ardenti, HEKS/EPER: Churches have a role to play for climate justice

Yvan Maillard Ardenti, Climate Justice Policy Advisor at Swiss Church Aid HEKS/EPER, explains how churches can play a role for climate justice and shares the experience of HEKS/EPER in an awareness campaign for a climate lawsuit. Yvan Maillard Ardenti, Climate Justice Policy Advisor at Swiss Church Aid HEKS/EPER during the opening event of the WCC resource "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable” at the Ecumenical centre in Geneva. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 18 December 2025 Would you please describe the role of HEKS/EPER and its relation to the Swiss Protestant Church? Maillard: HEKS/EPER was founded by the Swiss Protestant Church more than 75 years ago. We have the mandate to work on development cooperation, on humanitarian aid, and also here in Switzerland on the support and the aid of migrants and asylum seekers. It is also our mandate to work on climate justice and to influence the public and political debate on climate justice and the right to food.  HEKS-EPER has supported the legal case against Holcim, one of the largest CO2 emitters globally. What are the steps you took and your experience so far in this case? Maillard: Yes, the first step we took was to learn about the case, to meet with the plaintiffs, and then we set up a communication campaign, including an awareness campaign called “Call for Climate Justice,” to support the lawsuit and to make people aware of this lawsuit and the demands of the plaintiffs against Holcim. Can you explain your work to hold the companies accountable for harming the climate? Maillard: Well, my organization, HEKS-EPER, is working on a political level—working to influence laws and to influence public opinion. And also, it is important to allow people from the Global South to have access to justice and to make their demands before the Swiss court. This is why we decided to support this lawsuit with an awareness campaign. So, not only political, public work, but also legal work is needed to solve the climate crisis. From your perspective, why is it relevant for churches today to consider using legal tools for climate justice? Maillard: It is important for churches to be part of the public debate, of the political debate in the society. And they also can be part of this legal discussion and legal work against big polluters. Churches also can file lawsuits, file complaints or launch campaigns against these big polluters, because churches are part of society and they have a role to play. Churches should engage also for the care of creation. And also this implies work in the political debate, in the public debate, and also in the legal work. Are these legal tools available for individuals, including young people? Maillard: Yes - also a group of young people, a group of citizens, can use legal instruments to hold large corporations and large CO2 emitters accountable.  How does it make you feel working for a cause of climate justice? Maillard: I’m very happy to be able to contribute to this debate and to help these plaintiffs to get their voices heard in Indonesia, in Switzerland, and internationally. Watch the video interview HEKS-EPER Swiss Church Aid Campaign “Call for Climate Justice” WCC resource "Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable" 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