wfn.org | WCC NEWS: World Social Forum: churches discuss alternatives to global finances

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 26/01/2009 11:47:50

WCC TO DISCUSS ALTERNATIVES TO GLOBAL FINANCES AT THE WORLD
SOCIAL FORUM

Are there viable alternatives to the international financial
architecture responsible for the current global financial and
economical crises? Members of a World Council of Churches (WCC)
delegation will explore this issue at this year's World Social
Forum. Taking place 27 January to 1 February in Belem, Brazil,
the ninth World Social Forum (WSF) will gather some 80,000
participants from civil society organizations from all over the
world, according to its organizers. Under the emblematic motto
"Another World is Possible," the WSF is the main manifestation of
the "alter-globalization" movement, which seeks to promote
alternative, value-based forms of international integration. 

Out of a long-standing tradition of monitoring with a critical
eye the evolution and consequences of economic globalization, and
in view of the recent global financial meltdown, the WCC and its
ecumenical partners participating at the WSF seek to think
outside the box and propose viable ways to reform the global
financial architecture. 

"From a Christian perspective there is no system so sacred that
it could not be changed," says Dr Rogate Mshana, WCC executive
for Poverty, Wealth and Ecology. How could today's global
finances be changed will be the subject of a number of
ecumenically-sponsored workshops and seminaries within the WSF
programme (for details see media contact below). 

As in previous occasions, the WSF includes a strong
participation of church and ecumenical organizations. An
Ecumenical Tent and an Interreligious Chapel, as well as a series
of workshops are amongst the contributions of the churches to the
WSF. A World Forum on Theology and Liberation focused on
developing a theology for the "sustainability of life on earth"
took place in Belem from 21 to 25 January, ahead of the WSF.

>Ecological debt

Taking place in the city of Belem, the entry gate to the Amazon,
this year's WSF calls attention to environmental issues. A second
focus of WCC's participation will be centered on the concept of
"ecological debt". 

Ecological debt is a two-fold concept. On the one hand it refers
to the fact that people's consumption of natural resources
exceeds the earth's ability to supply resources and absorb the
demands placed upon it. By living beyond its environmental means,
humankind is "borrowing" from nature and therefore running up
ecological debts. 

In a more restricted sense, the concept refers to the fact that
if every individual is inherently entitled to an equal share of
the earth's resources, wealthy nations that use up far more than
their fair share of these – including the global atmosphere – are
running up huge ecological debts to poor nations. 

In workshops and seminaries, ecumenical participants at the WSF
will explore issues of eco-justice and ecological debt, with a
particular emphasis on the role of churches in promoting
eco-justice and advocating for the recognition of ecological
debt. 

Media contact in Belem, Brazil: Juan Michel +41-79-507-6363
juan@wcc-coe.org

>WCC work on economic globalization:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3117

Ecumenical presence at the 2009 WSF (in Portuguese)
http://www.ced-fsm.blogspot.com

>World Forum on Theology and Liberation
>http://www.wftl.org

>World Social Forum – official website:
>http://www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@wcc-coe.org

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 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.