C of E ‘to be carbon-neutral by 2030’, after Synod rips up original target
Original Article by Adam Becket on Church Times UK
THE General Synod on Wednesday set a 2030 target for net zero carbon emissions for the Church of England, rejecting the recommended target of 2045.
Members of the Synod voted narrowly for the more radical proposal for the C of E to be carbon-neutral in just ten years’ time. The proposal came in an amendment by Canon Professor Martin Gainsborough (Bristol), carried by 144 votes to 129, with ten abstentions.
Canon Gainsborough said that he wanted to push the Church harder. His diocese had already committed itself to the 2030 date.
The seriousness of the situation facing the earth could not be overstated, he said, especially across the world, away from the UK. He argued that there were theological reasons for the move as well. Christianity was about sacrificial life: “Faith is risky.”
Canon Gainsborough admitted: “There are challenges, but let’s not overestimate them.” The target of being net zero by 2045 was not acceptable. “There is nothing more important than this.”
The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, the C of E’s lead bishop on the environment, resisted the amendment to his original motion, arguing that 2045 was five years ahead of both the Paris Agreement and the Church’s earlier goal. He feared that pushing parishes around the country to be net zero by 2030 would cause resentment.
The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, in the debate on the climate crisis. Behind him is a graphic showing the acceleration of global heating
Following him, however, the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Paul Bayes, argued in favour of the amendment. He sensed a lack of connection between the way which Bishop Holtam had spoken of the urgency and the cautious nature of the original target.
Earlier, Bishop Holtam said that, in the light of the climate emergency, the Church needed to rethink its spirituality of creation. Incremental change was not sufficient.
Among other contributions to the debate, the Archdeacon of Knowsley and Sefton, the Ven. Pete Spiers, spoke of the unequal spread of historic endowments in dioceses, and asked how they could be used to combat the climate emergency. He had often heard churches say that they were saving money for a rainy day, but he countered: “Today is the rainy day.”