WCC news: WCC, ACT Alliance and LWF: COP31 must fund climate justice

Creation is a sacred gift, not a commodity. With this conviction, the World Council of Churches (WCC), ACT Alliance, and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) speak together ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. The churches call on governments to deliver climate justice: cut emissions and pay the finance they promised. A woman gazes out the window of her flooded house during a flooding in Meulaboh, Indonesia. Flooding in the region has grown worse because of climate change and the proliferation of palm oil plantations. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth 6 November 2026 In its Emissions Gap Report 2026, published on 21 October, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that the world is almost certain to go above 1.5°C of warming. To return to 1.5°C by 2100, global emissions must fall by 18 percent by 2030, 45 percent by 2035, and 69 percent by 2040, compared with 2025 levels. “Our communities and the future of our children and life on Earth must come before corporate interests and geopolitical agendas. Our future is not for sale. Wealthy industrialised countries, whose historical emissions have contributed most to the climate emergency and who have greater capacity to act, must take the lead and commit to an equitable, orderly and rapid phase-out of coal, oil and gas,” said Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary. “For the churches, climate finance is a matter of justice, not charity. High-income, high-emitting countries must deliver the 300 billion US dollars a year by 2035 agreed at COP29. Keeping to responsibilities, mandates and commitments made to protect the climate system under the UN Climate Convention and its instruments such as the Paris Agreement is a matter of urgency, equity, and justice. This has been ruled on by the International Court of Justice,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, ACT Alliance general secretary. “Care for creation flows from the core calling of the church. Churches in the countries most exposed to the climate crisis already carry its weight every day, and young people tell us clearly that climate justice is intergenerational justice. At COP31, governments must keep the promises they have made and protect the most vulnerable, because whatever we do for the least of our sisters and brothers, we do for Christ,” said Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, LWF general secretary.  In Antalya, the delegations of the WCC, ACT Alliance, and the LWF will follow the negotiations side by side and meet every morning and early evening for joint briefings. On 15 November, delegates will pray together at the COP31 Ecumenical Service at St Alypios’ Church. WCC at COP31 Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action (2025–2034) WhatsApp channel: 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