WCC news: African churches join eco-justice groups urging action on climate commitments

Faith leaders, faith-based organizations, and climate actors in Africa are demanding urgent implementation of existing climate commitments ahead of the 32nd Conference of the Parties (COP32) in November 2027 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Climate activists gathered to demand climate justice during the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27). Photo: © Valter Hugo Muniz/WCC 17 September 2026 In a new campaign titled “Africa Can’t Wait: Interfaith Voice for Just Climate,” faith communities said they were delivering climate action in the areas of adaptation, resilience, renewable energy, and clear cooking, restoration, and nature-based solutions. But droughts, floods, displacement, and loss and damage still devastated their communities, despite the interventions. Leading the campaign are, among others, ACT Alliance; GreenFaith Africa; All Africa Conference of Churches; Laudato Si’ Movement, a global Catholic environmental movement of over 900 organizations; Norwegian Church Aid Advocacy Programme for Africa; and Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development and Inter-church Aid Commission.   Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, general secretary of the ACT Alliance, said faith networks across Africa were not waiting for countries to turn climate commitments into action, but were supporting community adaption, building resilience, and implementing practical climate solutions through grants and local partnerships. “This gives us something powerful to bring to the global climate conversation: evidence of what just implementation can look like in practice, when communities are at the centre of designing and delivering solutions,” said de Faria in a news statement on 8 September. “For too long, much of this work has happened within individual faith networks, often without the opportunity to be seen collectively or connected to the wider climate policy debate.” Many of the solutions to Africa’s urgent climate crisis lay with African communities, said Guro Almas, programme director, Norwegian Church Aid Advocacy Programme Africa, and the communities now demand urgent action to finance African solutions and are no longer accepting empty promises or delays in implementing lifesaving commitments. “Through the Africa Can’t Wait campaign, Norwegian Church Aid and partners will pave the way for African faith leaders, youth, and communities to effectively demand justice, showcase their solutions, and influence global climate politics,” he said. According to Lorna Gold, executive director, Laudato Si’ Movement, Africa cannot keep paying the price for commitments that remain on paper. “For us as people of faith, climate action is not only about targets or negotiations. It is about protecting life, defending human dignity, and caring for our common home,” she said. Dr Tinashe Gumbo, All Africa Conference of Churches programme executive for ecological justice, welcomed the campaign as critical for faith actors in Africa, which has received several pledges from developed countries with little or no movement in terms of implementation. “We need to go beyond mere talk and pledges. Our people are dying daily because of droughts, floods, landslides, and other disasters. Thus, we welcome this campaign that will mobilize faith actors to apply more pressure on those responsible to help the situation,” said Gumbo. Africa cannot keep being invited to the table only to explain the damage climate change is doing to our people, said Dr Pius Oko, regional program manager, GreenFaith Africa. “We must be at the table to shape the decisions, the finance and the solutions,” said Oko. Care for creation and climate justice Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action   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