WCC News: Faith groups carry a grants-not-loans demand toward COP31

Climate finance, the money that helps countries cut emissions and cope with impacts, should come as grants, not debt-creating loans, demanded faith-based organizations at the UN Human Rights Council as COP31 in Antalya, Turkey approaches. "Climate Finance for Human Rights, Resilience, and Justice", held in Geneva on 7 September, was convened by Franciscans International, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and six other partners. Speakers at the Climate Finance event at the 63rd Human Rights Council, Photo: Franciscans International 09 September 2026 "From a faith perspective, climate finance is not simply about finding more money for climate action," said Athena Peralta, director of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development. "We also want to look at who pays and who benefits and who bears the risks." Private investment cannot close the gap, Peralta argued: it follows returns, not need. Public finance must move back to the centre: "we need to see climate finance, debt and tax as part of the same system." Public money could also come from military budgets, said Lindsey Fielder Cook of the Quaker United Nations Office. World military spending rose for an 11th consecutive year in 2025, she said, while states cut climate finance. "So while our forest burns, our crops die, our glaciers collapse, people die of heat and people die in war. We ask ourselves, what really makes us safe?"  Elena Cedillo, programme executive for climate justice at the Lutheran World Federation, put the weight on design: "the question is not only how much climate finance is available, but how it is designed, and who has a voice in deciding how it is used." Illari Aragon, global advocacy and policy lead at Christian Aid, said of COP31: "it's really an opportunity for countries to show that they care about adaptation." International public adaptation finance was 26 billion US dollars in 2023, against annual needs of 310 to 365 billion by 2035, the UN Environment Programme reports. Climate Finance for Human Rights, Resilience and Justice  Sustainability and Economy of Life (WCC) Churches to tackle war economies at Panama consultation (WCC) Adaptation Gap Report 2025 (UN Environment Programme, 29 October 2025) Climate Finance for Human Rights, Resilience and Justice | HRC63 Side Event 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