Christine Allen speaking at Westminster Central Hall © Geoff Crawford/ Progressio

The voices and concerns of the bottom billion people worldwide who live in poverty must be heard at the upcoming G20 summit – and far beyond – if a new world order is to be achieved, Progressio’s Executive Director, Christine Allen, told thousands of churchgoers as they prepared to join the Put People First march for jobs, justice and climate in central London today.

Speaking to a packed congregation at London’s Westminster Central Hall on the eve of the April summit – which brings leaders of the world’s most powerful economies to the UK next week – Ms Allen called for “energy and commitment” to forge “a new order, a new economics, a new world that puts people and the poor first”.

As the effects of the global financial crisis are felt worldwide, Ms Allen stated that up to 51 million jobs could be lost, throwing millions more people into poverty, while an additional 2.8 million children may die by 2015 if the crisis persists.

“Our perspective has to be about how any action and decision affects people who are poorest”, she said, adding that the poor must not be “objects of charity” but “partners in the shared task of building a more just world.”

The environment is also under threat, Ms Allen said, adding that humans were “stewards of God’s creation. When we use up finite resources without considering the consequences, damage the ecosystems and biodiversity of the planet, then we are abusing God’s creation,” she said, adding that people should not “trample” on the precious gift humanity had been given.

Although Ms Allen pointed to the fact that the global system was broken “long before” the present economic crisis began, and has failed millions of people particularly in Africa, the crisis has also brought “an opportunity to think differently”, adding that Lent was an opportunity to “turn our backs on that which is wrong and think differently.”

Read Christine Allen's G20 speech in full (170k Word)