As the negotiations at the 7th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change in Marrakesh (COP7) draw to an end, the delegation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) is sceptical about the possible outcome. "More and more we see that nature and the poor do not have a voice in the political negotiations," says Elias Crisostomo Abramides from Argentina, head of the WCC delegation. "The rich countries which are already doing little to combat climate change want to do even less. What worries us is that there is no solidarity, either for people or for nature."

"The discussions on technical matters, already agreed at the last meeting in Bonn in July this year, proved to be very difficult and tough in Marrakesh. Some countries, such as Russia, are not satisfied with what they got and keep on negotiating, thus delaying the final decisions that have to be made by the ministers today", says Abramides.

Despite this criticism, Abramides is still optimistic that there is a "decent chance of getting an agreement". "Sadly, the commitments in this agreement will in effect only reduce greenhouse gases by one third of the amount originally agreed in the Kyoto Protocol."

WCC delegation member Nafisa Goga D Souza from India worries that the developing countries are being left behind: "As efforts are made to save the Bonn Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol, issues of equity have taken a back seat."

Abramides, speaking on behalf of the WCC, expressed these concerns to the conference plenary on Thursday, 8 November. His statement supported the call of Indigenous Peoples for a separate working group at future climate change negotiations. Abramides also emphasized that religions have a significant role to play in modern societies: "They have to promote care for the earth and establish a language of the heart and of the spirit which will surely have a great influence on the climate change negotiations."