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Youth rally in Glasgow

6 November 2021, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom: A group of youth rally as tens of thousands of people - including environmental groups, children, youth, charities, climate activists, trade unionists and indigenous people - march through Glasgow city centre on Saturday, calling for climate justice and for world leaders to address the climate emergency. Glasgow hosts the United Nations climate change conference COP26, where world leaders gather to negotiate a response to the ongoing climate crisis and emergency.

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The alarming rise in CO2 emissions presents a significant threat to all of humanity, especially the most vulnerable—children, youth, and future generations. The climate emergency transcends environmental concerns, and is a justice issue that demands urgent and collective action. 

Legal Action for Intergenerational Climate Justice” is designed to save human lives by urging financial institutions to stop fuelling the root causes of global warming. . This project is anchored within the WCCs Churches' Commitments to Children programme. Its goal is to mobilize and build the capacity of churches and partners to utilize the law for intergenerational climate justice. The project focuses on the financial system, specifically carbon bombs, or fossil fuel extraction projects that will generate more than one gigatonne of CO₂ over their remaining lifetime. 

Carbon bombs play a crucial—yet often overlooked—role in the climate crisis. 

Banks, pension funds, and insurance firms channel client cash into fossil fuel financing, undermining sustainability efforts. 

“The choices made about where and how we bank play a strong role in our collective effort to halt global warming,” said Frederique Seidel, WCC Children and Climate programme executive at WCC.” Many decision makers in financial institutions are still victims of climate disinformation, and do not realise the lives of children and future generations are at stake. Legal action ensures accountability, and brings tangible hope for sustainable future.”

Seidel noted that the worlds leading scientists have repeatedly warned us that CO emissions must stop increasing now for a livable future. The UN documents that over 75% of CO2 emissions are caused by fossil fuels, yet  many banks, pension funds and insurances continue to massively finance carbon bombs,” she said. What comes to my mind is the following quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can't, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.’ ”

Project resources will include a handbook for churches, as well as capacity building workshops, all with the goal of equipping WCC member churches and partners to use the law for intergenerational climate justice and either file lawsuits, advocate for new laws to stop fossil fuel funding, or share the accompanying WCC communication strategy in their countries and regions. Churches and partners who would like to join this project are invited to send a note to [email protected].

Learn more about WCC's Engagement for Children

Save Children's Lives: Responsible Banking Survival Guide