Environmental policy

On this page:

- Stories from our churches
- Policy abstract
- Putting together your church strategy

Stories from our churches

Example 1; Christ the Servant, Stockwood

"We have 113 bulbs. After a year long project we have replaced all our old style 60 watt bulbs with energy efficient ones. This gives us two advantages:
- More light for less power; We get 75w of light for 15w power consumption.
- They last eight times longer which is good for us as the ceiling is 4.5 meters up so we don’t have to climb the ladder so often!

So we are saving 45w of power on every bulb, and we have 113 of them! We did some fund raising and people sponsored a bulb each. It took us over a year and we finished last week. The church is brighter and we are saving money."

Visit church website >>

If you would like to submit a story of your own environmental projects or buildings alterations to share with others, please telephone 0117 906 0100, or email

Diocesan Environmental Policy

The industrialised countries of the world have a dominant view of
progress that it is measured solely by material wealth. This
encourages ever greater consumption of material goods and is
tightly coupled to world views that treat the earth as an object to
be used and abused at will.

Climate change may be the most serious issue ever faced by
human communities and it has arisen from the burning of fossil
fuels since the industrial revolution. All forms of life across the
planet are threatened and the poorest nations are set to suffer
most.

If remedial action is possible it will require radical changes at
every level of life, from behaviour of each individual through to
international treaties.

This Diocese recognises that we have disregarded the long-term consequences of our actions. We need to renew our connection with the beauty and fragility of the environment. We understand that the vision of building communities of wholeness needs to be challenged to include a right relationship with the natural world. This Diocese is committed to seriously addressing the challenges that that presents through the broad range of policies outlined in this article.

We affirm these key elements of our faith:

- We have been created by God as part of one great, inter-dependant living system
- We recognise a special responsibility to care for the earth
- We are inspired by the biblical vision of peace which includes the
fulfilment of our individual potential, a just social order and a concern for the well-being of creation
- We are empowered by Christ who through his death and resurrection reconciled all things in creation to himself, so making peace

Putting together your church strategy

The Diocese is currently developing strategy guidelines to help Incumbents, PCCs and other governing bodies draw up realistic and measurable actions for their church, office or parish. Meanwhile, there is a wealth of information and project ideas available to help you get started straight away; that way once the Diocese has it's strategy together, you can already have the actions in place and look very smug!

Useful links

- Shrinking the Footprint
Official CofE environmental strategy website
- Become energy efficient
- Switch to green energy
- Generate your own renewable energy
- Offset carbon emissions

- ecocongregation.org
Excellent site for resources and ideas

- futerra Sustainability Communications
Handbook for churches on how to be green with practical advice, communication tips and lots of pictures!

Each part of the Diocese needs to address environmental issues through a written policy, agreed actions and a summary of progress in their annual reports. The Diocese requires diocesan bodies and encourages parishes to include the following in their policies:

- Reducing carbon emissions - both by church buildings and activities and through the lifestyles of individual church members
- Purchasing sensitively - including the reduction of both consumption and waste
- Developing awareness and celebrating positive action
- Incorporating environmental concerns into worship
- Sustaining the natural environment - including biodiversity and the imaginitive use of sites with environmental and other potential
- Seeking the highest achievable environmental standards in all new and refurbished buildings
- Supporting the demands for social justice both locally and globally
- Making socially responsible investments
- Building Partnerships that support environmental and sustainable actions
- Encouraging individuals to make environmental concerns an integral part of their life and work

All actions need to have targets, be challenging and measurable.

Resources for this policy currently under development:

- A three year action plan by the Diocese with an annual review of the impact of the policy
- A set of policy frameworks for parishes and others to produce their own lists of challenging and measurable targets
- A dedicated part of the diocesan interactive website where people can tell their stories, thus encouraging others by showing the policy in action
- Access to other resources and support, including trained advisers
- Seeking the commitment of a volunteer to give a minimum of one day per week to work with others, including the Diocesan Environmental Officer
- Seeking funding to resource the support of this necessary work in the Diocese

Core commitments

- As a diocese, and as part of our commitment to the Church of England’s initiative “Shrinking the Footprint”, to reduce carbon emissions by a minimum of 10% in each three year period
- To locate and provide resources to develop awareness and support action by the church as a corporate body and by its individual members.

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