Paris: We do have new signs of hope on the eve of COP 21 in Paris. We are in this city, recently so brutally attacked by terrorists, where the nation is mourning the lives of innocent people. Still, we are gathered here to see signs of hope in the coming days. A day before the leaders of the nations of the world gather here to discuss what to do to save the future of our one and only common world, there are perspectives of hope to be shared by them and by us who stand alongside representing the peoples of the world. Those who come here hold the potential to make efforts and decisions these days that will prepare a better world. A "green shift" is now more possible than ever. That means that the moral discourse can claim greater focus on how climate justice between generations can be a reality. It is time to do the right things.

At the end of 2015, have we come to a tipping point in the work towards climate justice when we can develop a new narrative? Has the time come to say that there are signs of hope that can and must be reinforced by a new political and economic trajectory? And if so, what then is the parallel narrative of moral behaviour and change?

Sharing hope

Sharing hope is not only a matter of mutual psychological and spiritual encouragement. To nurture hope is a fundamental ethical principle in any human relation. It is not a matter of being purely optimistic, or even unrealistic or ignoring risks and problems. It is rather a matter of identifying those realities that are authentic signs of hope. To fail in sustaining one another’s hope in any way, or even to destroy the hope of the other, is to take the meaning out of their work or lives. Who has the right to do that?

In every meeting of leadership or governance I lead in the World Council of Churches, I begin the agenda with “sharing of signs of hope”. We need the signs that cultivate our hope that something is transforming towards what is better, signs that our joint efforts are yielding fruits that are benefiting those who should be helped towards justice and peace through our work. Particularly if we have reasons to be dissatisfied or even pessimistic about the progress of our initiatives and work, we need to share signs of hope.

When I was invited to address the Human Right Council in Geneva this year, in a session discussing the relationships between Human Rights and Climate Change from a perspective of "Faith Based Organizations", I claimed that all human beings have a right to hope. Faith in God, who desires fullness of life for all of humanity, is a way to relate to the world as it is with the conviction and the commitment that something more and better is possible than what we immediately can observe. This is one contribution to hope. The human rights to have basic needs met – food, clean water and air, health services and more – are limited or violated by climate change already for many people in the world. Who has the right to take away the hope of a future where the next generations can enjoy life in its abundance on this planet?