WCC news: Biodiversity COP17: WCC claims space for grassroots voices

Three UN conventions were born at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, and in 2026 all three hold their Conference of the Parties (COP). After the desertification COP17 in Ulaanbaatar in August, the biodiversity COP17 opened in Yerevan, Armenia, on 19 October. From Mongolia to Armenia, the World Council of Churches (WCC) brings the same case: the crises of land, biodiversity, and climate are bound together, and none can be solved without the communities who live with them. Representatives of the Faiths for Biodiversity coalition meeting with the Convention on Biological Diversity executive secretary Astrid Schomaker at COP17. 23 October 2026 “In Ulaanbaatar we said that land will not be restored without the communities who hold it. Indigenous Peoples are rights holders, and young people are partners, not guests. The biodiversity framework will move from promises to action only if their voices shape it,” said Athena Peralta, director of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development. COP17 is the first global review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the plan adopted in 2022 with 23 targets for 2030. The ecumenical delegation has 20 members. They come from 16 countries, from Panama and Bolivia to Uganda and Sri Lanka, and are traveling with the WCC, Lutheran World Federation, and Anglican Communion. Hosting the WCC delegation is the Armenian Apostolic Church, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Rev. Dr Jessica Hetherington, member of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development and chair of its working group on biodiversity, has spoken with many people at COP17, at side panels and in the coffee line. “Every single time, people express their appreciation and the importance of having voices of faith in discussions around biodiversity protection. It is time for these same voices to be present in high-level discussions and at the negotiation tables,” said Hetherington, of the United Church of Canada. At the COP17 Faith Hub, the WCC programme included a session on Indigenous and ecumenical perspectives on 20 October and an upcoming session on youth and faith communities on 26 October. After Yerevan, the WCC will take the same case to COP31, the UN climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November. Each stop belongs to the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action (2025–2034), the WCC’s 10-year commitment to climate justice. WCC leaves COP17 in Ulaanbaatar with the same land question Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action (2025–2034) CBD COP17, Yerevan, 19–30 October 2026 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 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