[World Council of Churches] Three United Nations 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 August in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the biodiversity COP17 opened Oct. 19 in Yerevan, Armenia. From Mongolia to Armenia, the World Council of Churches 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. “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 World Council of Churches’ 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 from 16 countries. They are traveling with the World Council of Churches, Lutheran World Federation and Anglican Communion. The Armenian Apostolic Church’s Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin is hosting the World Council of Churches’ delegation. Read the full article here.

[Anglican Taonga] The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has committed to developing a strategic response to artificial intelligence, which will consider the impact of AI technologies on physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects of human life. “Many people are writing and researching on the current impact of AI from environmental and social perspectives, but I think there’s a space for us to approach it through the dual lenses of theology and the three-tikanga church,” Dunedin Bishop Anne van Gend said. The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has a unique three-person primacy, reflecting the three Tikangas, or cultural streams (Pākehā, Māori and Polynesia), within the church. Read the full article here.

[Episcopal News Service] The United Nations is four days into its biennial Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Rt. Rev. Cathleen Bascom, The Episcopal Church’s eco-region networks coordinator and former bishop of Kansas, is there representing Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe. Bascom is in Yerevan, Armenia, Oct. 19-30 for the 17th U.N. biodiversity conference, or COP17, as part of a five-person Anglican delegation. While in Yerevan, the delegation is acknowledging Indigenous wisdom as they advocate for protecting oceans, for just finance for at-risk communities and for a cleaner agricultural system. “I come to COP17 ready to share some innovative practices and positive impacts reported from our networks,” Bascom told Anglican Communion News Service. “Above all, I travel to Armenia to learn.” This is The Episcopal Church’s second time participating in the U.N. biodiversity conference. In 2024, Bascom was part of the church’s three-person delegation as an observer organization. That conference, which was held in Santiago de Cali, Colombia, concluded with no clear agreement on key topics. Negotiations later continued in Rome, Italy. Representatives from nearly 200 countries are attending COP17. The United States is not an official voting party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, but representatives from Native American tribal nations and other groups are participating. The U.S. Council for International Business also sent a multisectoral business group to present private-sector solutions to biodiversity issues. The biodiversity conference is different from the U.N.’s annual climate change conference, which will take place in November in Antalya, Turkey. The biodiversity conference focuses on protecting and preserving all life on earth, including animals, plants and microorganisms. The climate change conference, on the other hand, focuses on limiting the rise of Earth’s surface temperature to reduce the frequency of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, wildfires, severe rain events, increased flooding and heatwaves. Climate change is among several factors leading to the rapid decline of Earth’s biodiversity. Overfishing, poaching and habitat loss when land is taken for agriculture are other factors, which have left more than 1 million animals on the brink of extinction. Human population growth is a central factor because of the increased need for infrastructure and converting natural habitats for agriculture, which have significantly reduced space for wildlife to thrive. Under this year’s theme, “Taking Action for Nature,” the conference is assessing progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted in 2022 by 196 countries. The framework lists 23 targets to be met by 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. One of those targets, called the 30×30 target, is to ensure that 30% of land and water are conserved by 2030. At The Episcopal Church’s 81st General Convention in 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky, the House of Bishops and House of Deputies passed D029, “Commit to the 30×30 Initiative for Biodiversity,” which directs all Episcopal institutions to adopt, support and promote the 30×30 target. As of 2024, 8.4% of marine and coastal areas were protected or conserved, compared with 17.6% of land and inland waters, according to the Protected Planet Report 2024, the first official review of global progress towards implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The conference is also addressing issues related to climate change, agriculture and health. The Anglican delegation is focusing on four priorities at COP17: Share generational wisdom to secure nature and communities; ensure that governments’ finances are channeled towards those who need it most; call on governments to restore and protect the oceans as one of the “Lungs of the Earth”; and show that balancing food security and sustainability is possible. Built around relationship, restoration and resilience, the Anglican Communion’s “Lungs of the Earth” initiative describes how Anglicans can be involved in working to restore and protect three vital ecosystems: forests, oceans and frozen landscapes. This includes participation in reforestation initiatives like the Communion Forest, and also amplifies environmental and advocacy work from Anglican provinces around the world and celebrates the work of Anglican environmental activists, including Green Anglicans and the Anglican Communion Environmental Network. While in Yerevan, Bascom said she hopes to gain ideas in strengthening The Episcopal Church’s 12 eco-region networks, which address region-specific biodiversity and climate issues. “From our own Anglican delegation members and the many scientists, faith groups and government actors, I hope to glean best practices and spiritual insights that will empower efforts in our Episcopal eco-region networks.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Anglo-Roman Catholic International Commission held a virtual plenary meeting concluding the second phase of its latest work, which began in 2019. The commission is the principal theological dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. It brings together theologians and church leaders to deepen their shared understanding of Christian faith, with the goal of restoring full, visible unity. During the meeting, commission members approved the final draft of the agreed upon statement for this phase of their work, called “While They Were Talking and Discussing: Learning to Do Moral Discernment in Communion.” Read the full article here.

[Religion News Service] Growing numbers of people in Britain are defining themselves as Christian nationalists, according to a new survey — but the majority of them are not churchgoing Christians.   The report, “Beyond Christian Nationalism — Measuring Attitudes to Christianity and Britishness Today,” published by the reputable think tank Theos, surveyed 1,765 people. It shows that more than 10% of those surveyed identify as Christian nationalists.   The movement is relatively new in Britain but has caused concern, including among bishops who have tried to disassociate the established Church of England from it following large demonstrations and some well-known far-right, anti-migrant activists saying that they have become Christians. According to the Theos study, about 11% of those surveyed — more than 1 in 10 Britons — have views that resemble those of Christian nationalists. These people embody an ideology that merges national identity with their idea of Christianity and believe that it should be central to British culture and given prominence over other faiths and secular views.   The 11%, termed “identity integrationists” by the study, had a strong identification with Christianity, yet just 13% reported attending church weekly, only slightly above the 11% average for church attendance across the whole survey. There was much more enthusiasm from them, however, for the Bible — just under half of them expressed an interest in it — and just under a third said they prayed every week.   This group showed hostility to Islam and were disinclined to follow church doctrine on welcoming the stranger: Only 19% agreed that Christianity requires supporting asylum seekers. The report shows that their Christianity is cultural rather than doctrinal and that they are “deeply, indeed viscerally, culturally Christian.”  They are overwhelmingly white, and although not poor, they tend not to be highly skilled and more likely to live in rural areas.   Another group, termed “belief integrationists,” holds stronger religious beliefs in the nationalism-Christianity equation and are considerably less hostile to immigration. Almost half (48%) agreed that Christian values require welcoming and supporting asylum seekers. These “belief integrationists” made up 13% of those surveyed. Among this group, 31% attend church every week, 46% pray weekly and 62% expressed an interest in the Bible. They are more likely to be younger, male, poorer, urban and non-white, with conservative moral values and traditional ideas about masculinity.   Despite being less hostile to asylum seekers, the report says that “a remarkable two-thirds of this group hold to the Great Replacement Theory (of white people being replaced by immigrants).”  Nick Spencer, a senior fellow at Theos and one of the report’s authors, said: “Until now there has been little research done in Britain on whether Christian nationalists go to church. This shows that the keenest nationalists don’t go to church very often.  “When we asked these people about the white population being deliberately replaced, it’s off the scale among Christian nationalists.”   In the past two years, demonstrations put on by the Unite the Kingdom organization have drawn thousands of people, with wooden crosses and the English flag (called the flag of St. George, with a red cross on a white background) being carried by the large crowds. Tommy Robinson, one of Britain’s most well-known anti-Islam, anti-migrant activists, spoke at a Christmas concert last season after he converted to Christianity in prison. Robinson told concertgoers, “Something great is happening. I’ve seen it at each one of our Unite the Kingdom events as I saw the cross start being prevalent.” Bishops in the Church of England have warned about the co-opting of Christian symbols and rhetoric to support anti-migrant views. In July a working group of the Church of England’s bishops urged its General Synod to focus on national unity. The group, led by the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, urged Christians to model a healthy sense of patriotism and reclaim symbols like the St. George’s flag as a sign of unity rather than division. The flag has traditionally been strongly associated with the Church of England as it flies from its churches’ towers.   The Theos report has been welcomed as one of the first major studies delving into Christian nationalism in Britain. John Heathershaw, professor of international relations at the University of Exeter and research associate at the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, said that until now there has been little robust research into the topic. “The survey is useful because Christian nationalism is not a coherent ideology, and not a social and political movement but a cluster of attitudes,” he said.   Heathershaw called “belief integrationists” the most interesting group identified by the survey. In a recent Substack, he wrote:   “My guess is that many of them are charismatic evangelicals, the largest growing group in the UK and across much of the world. Forgive the caricature, but one typical belief integrationist may be a Nigerian Pentecostal man in his 30s or 40s. While they may be a small minority nationally, they are an increasingly significant part of the Christian faith. Although 54% of this group say they are proud that Britain “is predominantly white” (p.118), they are by far the least white group of all five identified by Theos. Of course, racialized views are not exclusively held by the racial majority.”  The most worrying aspect found by the survey, Heathershaw told RNS, is the sizable number of people who believe that there is a concerted effort to replace Britain’s population with another group.   “It shows right across the survey that 37% of people support the Great Replacement Theory. That is remarkable and troubling,” he said. The report also highlights how divided Britain is over the role of Christianity. Sizable numbers of people want it to have no public role — despite the nation having an established church, with 26 Church of England bishops sitting in the Parliament’s second chamber, the House of Lords. About half the population wants to keep Christianity out of politics, with 34% of those surveyed saying