Bishop Gunnar Stålsett is an International President of the World Council of Religions for Peace and a member of its Board. He served as the co-chair for the XVI International AIDS Conference and as General Secretary of The Lutheran World Federation (Geneva). He has also been a member of the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches. Over a period in the 1970s, he held offices as deputy member of the Norwegian Parliament, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Church Affairs, and member of the City Council of Oslo. He has served as an advisor to the Norwegian government on issues such as arms control, disarmament, and peace and reconciliation. He has participated in numerous Special Assemblies of the United Nations related to disarmament, the rights of children, and AIDS.

Dr. Stålsett has served for 14 years as a member of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and has been and is actively engaged in struggles for independence and in peace process efforts, including in Namibia, Guatemala, East-Timor, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kosovo and Iraq. He participates in a number of national and international inter-faith programmes. Additionally, he serves as a senior advisor to Norwegian Church Aid and a member of the Council of 100 of the World Economic Forum.