Sharing a common commitment to promoting economic justice for planet and people, and recognising the need to work together to have a meaningful impact, the World Council of Churches, the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and the Council for World Mission (CWM) convened the first Global Ecumenical Conference on a New International Financial and Economic Architecture in 2012.
The aim was to engage proponents of diverse proposals for economic reform and change, to set criteria and a framework for understanding (both economically and theologically), and to develop a plan of action towards constructing just, caring and sustainable global financial and economic structures for the future. The panel met again in January 2014.
As part of its own engagement with policy work on alternative economics, financial reconstruction and the economy of the churches, Ekklesia believes that the group’s São Paulo Statement: International Financial Transformation for the Economy of Life remains of fundamental importance in mapping the issues, beginning to chart ways forward, and assisting a wider process of conversation that civil society organisations and think-tanks will also have an important role in contributing to over the next few years. The statement is © of its originators and shared on Creative Commons terms.
* Read and download the full document here – São Paulo Statement: International Financial Transformation for the Economy of Life (*.PDF Adobe Acrobat document): http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/files/sao_paulo_statement.pdf