Pacific Conference of Churches will continue to reweave the ecological mat

Pacific Conference of Churches Statement on the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion

“We therefore renew our call, echoed at last month’s UN Ocean Conference, for an immediate moratorium on all seabed‑mining activity,” reads the statement. “If a healthy environment is a human right, then rivers, forests, mountains, and the ocean must be recognised as rights‑bearing entities.”

Pacific Indigenous leadership is already blazing this trail, notes the statement. “In 2024, Māori, Tahitian, Tongan, and Cook Islands leaders signed He Whakaputanga Moana, a treaty granting whales legal personhood, so their suffering can be challenged in court,” reads the text. “Aotearoa‑New Zealand’s Te Awa Tupua Act 2017 has long recognised the Whanganui River as a legal person with enforceable rights.”

These examples show how the International Court of Justice’s language can be translated into statute. “Pollution or ecological damage by any actor must trigger prosecution and full restoration,” reads the statement.

 “Let us heed the Tuākoi ‘Lei summons to good‑neighbourly love by protecting creation, repairing injustice, and embracing a just transition worthy of our children,” concludes the statement. “The Pacific drum has sounded—may its rhythm guide the world towards an Ocean of Peace where peoples and planet flourish together.”

More about the statement from World Council of Churches