THE Church of England’s drive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 is already reducing energy bills and making churches fit for the long run, the lead bishop for the environment says.
Speaking to a gathering of diocesan environment officers on the British Antarctic Survey, in Cambridge, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, said that acting to tackle the climate and nature crises was an indication of Christian compassion, and “the suitable thing to do”.
“There is a link here through compassion with Anglicans — with all people world wide — a lot of whom are on the front line of climate change and biodiversity loss,” he said. “If we truly consider that we’re brothers and sisters in Christ, we must always have a priority and a compassion for where biodiversity and climate-change loss is impacting people’s lives.”
The Church’s net-zero programme was increase a “huge impetus”, he said, and highlighted that changes available to churches could range from solar panels to low-cost features comparable to LED lighting, each of which could have a major impact on a church’s carbon footprint, whether rural or urban.
In his speech in Cambridge, Bishop Usher spoke of being a part of the Anglican delegation to the COP16 UN biodiversity conference last yr in Colombia (Comment, 25 October 2024). “Climate change and biodiversity are two sides of the identical coin,” he said. “COP16 got here over very loud and clear to me on the necessity to hold these together. Investment in conservation and restoration and environmental protection are futile if we’re going be doing nothing around climate change.”
Elsewhere, a Christian charity has called on Churches within the UK to be more transparent in regards to the land that they own, in order that this asset may be used to extend biodiversity, cut carbon emissions, and achieve net zero by 2030.
The Church Commissioners own about 200,000 acres of forestry and farmland. The charity Operation Noah has published a seven-point plan, Church Land Use Vision, for the management of the land. This includes: restoring peatland, protecting 30 per cent for nature and growing latest mixed woodland on ten per cent; supporting tenant farmers to achieve net zero by 2030; and publishing reports on reducing emissions on church land by 2030. The charity has also requested the availability of a public map of church land, indicating land use and guarded areas, by 2030.
Operation Noah’s Bright Now campaign director, Clare Fussell, said: “Reducing emissions on church land is hugely vital, and something which the Church must take seriously, not only as a responsible landowner, but additionally as an ethical community called to take care of Creation. Our 2022 church-land report concluded that agricultural land owned by the Church of England was prone to emit more planet-heating greenhouse gases than all its church buildings combined.”
A 2024 report from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero showed that agricultural land accounted for greater than 12 per cent of UK emissions that yr — greater than the complete electricity sector.
A spokesperson for the Commissioners said: “The Church Commissioners support nature and nature-integrated farming across our portfolio through regenerative agriculture, woodland creation and tree planting, peatland restoration, and sustainable forestry. This includes projects with our farming tenants to reinforce biodiversity, partnerships with wildlife trusts and the RSPB, and authorized sustainable forest management.”
Operation Noah has published a latest series of resources for churches, including examples of sustainable farming, and is asking the general public to sign an open letter to church leaders for World Environment Day on 5 June.
