wfn.org | Churches at Climate Conference

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                   WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

        Office of Communication - Press and Information

              150 Route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100
                  1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland

 Telephone: (022) 791 61 52/51        Telefax: (022) 798 13 46
                   E-mail:  JWN@WCC-COE.ORG

PRESS RELEASE			FOR IMMEDIATE USE		10 JULY 1996

CHURCHES AT CLIMATE CONFERENCE - WILL HOLD SPECIAL SERVICE

Traditional music from the Pacific and Switzerland will sound a
warning about the dangers of climate change during a special
service to be held at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva this coming
Sunday, 14 July at 17.00hrs.

The service, hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in
conjunction with other ecumenical, international and Geneva-based
organizations, will bring together government delegates to the
Second Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP2) currently
being held in Geneva.  Also invited are UN officials, members of
environmental groups, as well as church and community groups from
Geneva and its environs.

COP2 is part of the UN process to draw up a treaty or "protocol"
designed to encourage industrialized nations to reduce their
emissions of greenhouse gases that are leading to climate change.

The WCC is deeply concerned about the lack of progress in this
process.  Sunday's service will highlight the ethical and
spiritual dimensions of climate change as a serious threat to the
well-being of God's creation.  Among special guests will be
representatives of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
who are among the first peoples to experience the impact of
climate change.

The service will begin with a call to worship played on the p , a
sea shell from the Pacific and one traditionally used to summon
people to church.  Mr John Doom, from Tahiti and a member of the
WCC's staff, will play the p , which is known as "the voice of
the Pacific".  A response will come from a Swiss alp horn.  The
service will be led by Pasteur Gilbert Tinembart from Geneva who
heads the Swiss-Pacific Solidarity Group.

The World Council of Churches is calling on those attending COP2
for progress to be made in drawing up "protocols" to help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.

Alarm has increased this week with scientific evidence contained
in a World Health Organisation report, due to be officially
released this Friday, which documents and projects the negative
health impacts of climate change.

The WCC has been involved in issues of justice, peace and
creation for many years with a particular focus on climate change
over the past eight years.  The churches view climate change as a
profoundly ethical issue being caused largely by industrialized
societies but where the consequences will be suffered
disproportionately by developing countries and future
generations.  The WCC is convinced that the mobilisation of
public opinion is critical if negotiations are to be successful.

Hence, earlier this year, the WCC initiated a petition campaign
in industrialized countries to build public support for a strong
protocol. The campaign has been well received and by September of
this year petitions will be circulating in at least 15 countries
including most European nations, Canada, the United States,
Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. 

The WCC has a five-member observer team at COP2 and hopes to make
an intervention next week.

Contact:	Dr David Hallman, WCC Climate Change Programme
Coordinator Phone: (+41.22) 791.61.15; 732.81.00 (Hotel)

                                                                      

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
330, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually
all Christian traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a
member church but works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest
governing body is the Assembly, which meets approximately every
seven years.  The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.