Today’s global economy is shaped by extractivism – a way of living that treats Earth as something to be used up rather than cared for. Extractivism removes coal, oil, gas, forests, water, and minerals on a massive scale, often leaving behind polluted land, broken ecosystems, and harmed communities. This approach fuels climate change and biodiversity loss through the use of fossil fuels, deforestation, industrial agriculture, meat overconsumption, and the constant pressure for economic growth at any cost.
The people who bear the greatest burdens are usually those who did the least to cause the crisis – Indigenous communities, small-scale farmers, coastal peoples, and those living in the Global South. Extractivism leads to polluted air, toxic water, poor health, loss of land, disappearing livelihoods, and forced displacement of human and biodiversity species. These are not only environmental wounds but spiritual and moral ones.
In response, the World Council of Churches, together with regional ecumenical councils and ecumenical partners, invites the global Christian family into a global systemic carbon fast – a spiritual journey of prayer, reflection, and collective action that seeks not only to reduce personal carbon footprints but to reshape the systems that drive exploitation and destruction of the web of life.
What Is a Systemic Carbon Fast?
Traditional carbon fasts focus on personal lifestyle changes that reduce high-emission activities, such as using less energy, eating plant-based meals, and reducing waste. These acts are very important, but they are not enough to address the scale of today’s crisis.
A systemic carbon fast goes further. It asks churches, congregations, and ecumenical networks to confront the economic structures that shape our collective ways of living that harm both human communities and creation, and to take bold steps toward life-giving alternatives. A systemic carbon fast asks us to:
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- examine how our lifestyles are connected to economic systems that fuel climate change, biodiversity loss, and other environmental harms,
- challenge the structures that normalise exploitation,
- stand with communities resisting harmful extractive projects,
- shift policies and practices of government, religious organizations, and other institutions toward justice and sustainability,
- strengthen alternatives that embody God’s vision of enough for all.
- examine how our lifestyles are connected to economic systems that fuel climate change, biodiversity loss, and other environmental harms,
This fast transforms not only values and habits, but also policies, relationships, systems, and the future. This fast says: We choose enough rather than excess. We choose community over consumption. We choose justice over sacrifice zones.
Contact Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon or Creation Justice Ministries to learn more.