Church vows to pull investment from polluters

religious affairs correspondent

THE Church of England is to withdraw its investments from polluting firms that fail to tackle climate change within five years.

Companies including Shell and BP could be hit if they do not fall in line with the strict Paris climate accords.

Meeting this weekend in York, the General Synod voted to bring in the deadline by 2023 despite the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, trying to speed up the timetable for change.

“If we continue to invest in these companies beyond 2020, we will be generating profit from practices which will harm and exacerbate climate change,” he said. Until now the Church had focused on retaining shares in fossil fuel and mining companies and working to change them from within. ♦ The Church was criticised for hosting a recent arms conference as members voted to condemn the use of nuclear weapons. Hannah Grivell, a lay member of the synod, said it seemed “odd” to hold the debate when Church House in Westminster had benefited from such an event.