What’s climate action got to do with the Church?

Climate action is an essential part of our responsibility to safeguard God's creation.

Christians believe that the earth and everything in it is a gift from God, and that ultimately it belongs to God and not to us. Most Christians understand that the ‘dominion’ God gave people over the earth as described in Genesis means ‘responsible stewardship’. A steward cares for something that belongs to someone else. We are caretakers of God’s wonderful world. We are not to misuse or exploit it, but to ensure it is healthy, productive and a good place to live for all, today and into the future.

ECO Church is one of many initiatives where the Church of England is involved in safeguarding the environment. The message below outlines some of the ways the church is involved in the protection of our environments.

Climate action is a vital imperative in ‘loving our neighbours as ourselves.’

All the evidence suggests that the climate emergency most directly and urgently affects people living in poorer countries less able to resource any remedy. Significantly, these parts of the world have, in fact, contributed far less to global warming than more developed nations. So for Christians to get involved in climate action is a response of love for God’s people as well as God’s creation. And it’s a matter of social justice.

The Church of England has made a commitment to become carbon net zero

The Church of England’s General Synod in February 2020 set new targets for all parts of the church to work to become carbon ‘net zero’ by 2030. Members voted for all parts of the Church of England to take action and ramp-up efforts to reduce emissions, and called for urgent steps to examine requirements to reach the new target, and draw up an action plan. So we all have a part to play in this.

So what is the Harborough Anglican Team doing about the climate emergency?

Over recent years the momentum has been building in our church to do what we can in our community to raise awareness of the issues around climate change, to take steps to make our church buildings and congregation more eco-friendly, and to work with others for a more sustainable world.

For several years we have been members of ECO CHURCH, an initiative run by the Christian environmental agency A Rocha. Eco Church provides us with a way to measure our impact on the environment, gives advice on practical ways to become more sustainable, and helps us monitor our progress.

How does Eco Church work?

We began by completing an extensive survey, detailing:

• How as a church we express our care for God’s world in our worship and teaching;

• How we look after our buildings in an environmentally responsible way;

• How we engage in local, national and international efforts to work for improvement in the environment;

• How we as individual Christian people conduct our daily lives in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way.

The scope of this initial survey was huge! Here are just a few examples of the areas we looked at:

• Is care for creation a regular and integral part of our teaching of our children and young people?

• Is our church lighting the most energy efficient it can be?

• Does the church boiler have the highest energy efficiency rating?

• Are the refreshments served in church made with fairly-traded tea and coffee?

• Do we invite outside speakers to inform us on the issues around climate change?

• Do church members engage in local initiatives for improving the environment such as tree planting and litter picking?

• Are church funds ethically invested?

So what have we done so far?

If you would like to find out more here are some useful links