The Church and Climate Change
The Church, and Climate Change. You might not think these two things have anything to do with one another, but jobs like mine exist so that they do.
My name is Bethan Still, I am the Diocesan Environmental Officer for the Church of England’s Durham Diocese. A large part of my role is leading the Net Zero effort for the diocese. In every Church of England diocese in the country, there is someone like me doing a similar job.
Why Net Zero?
In 2022, the Church of England made a commitment to be Net Zero by 2030. Prior to this, climate change and net zero had not really been high on the agenda, so any progress made towards this goal by 2030 will have made a massive difference.
Christians believe that God created the world, and in doing so commanded humans to care for it. The Climate crisis is being caused by greenhouse emissions as a result of human behaviour, which includes the behaviours of Christians in churches. It makes sense, therefore, that the Church of England seeks to reduce its emissions accordingly.
Christians also believe that we should love our neighbour – any other fellow human. How can a Christian see the rising sea levels in Bangladesh wiping out poverty-stricken villages, and think “I am loving my Bangladeshi neighbours.”? Seeing the effects that rising sea levels, flooding, hurricanes droughts and wildfires are having on already struggling communities prompted the church to think seriously about how we care for our global neighbours.
What is our baseline?
For Durham Diocese, the Net Zero target covers all Scope 1 and 2 emissions in:
- 260 churches and any church halls
- Durham Cathedral
- 195 Vicarages
- Diocesan Office
- 8 Voluntary Aided CofE schools
- Staff and Clergy travel.
Emissions data for the above were collected for 2022, showing a Carbon Footprint of 4488.6 tCO2e /annum.
If a church has taken the above actions and meets suitable criteria, we may then encourage them to consider producing their own electricity using solar panels. Many churches are fortunate to have a large south-facing roof, making them ideal candidates for solar PV.
There is a lot to think about when it comes to Net Zero in a church building, and like I say not all solutions are possible for every church. We hope though that even where churches are unable to take much action, they are being supported in having the right heart attitude towards tackling the climate crisis.
What about other Environmental Initiatives?
As previously mentioned, Christians believe that they should care for the world that God has created. This involves more than just tackling Climate Change, so we promote an award framework called Eco Church that helps churches to think more broadly about care for the Environment. Ran by the charity A Rocha, Eco Church focusses on 5 different categories in the life of the church:
Worship and teaching – The church must show that they incorporate environmental themes into sermons, prayers, and liturgies.
Buildings and Energy – The church must show that they manage their buildings sustainably. This may include solar panels, improving insulation, and being on a green tariff.
Land and Nature – The church should manage their grounds in a way that promotes biodiversity and sustainability. This could involve creating wild areas, planting native species and encouraging bird nesting through installing boxes and feeding stations.
Community and global engagement – The congregation must show that they take action on environmental issues both locally and globally. This might include organizing community litter picks, or advocating for global environmental justice.
Lifestyle - Church members must show they have adopted more sustainable lifestyles. This could involve using public transport to get to church or improving their recycling/waste habits.
This blog post has been just a whistle-stop tour of all things Climate and Environment in our Diocese, and there is plenty more going on that I could talk about. If you would like any more information, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me: [email protected].