Going green is holy, say CofE bishops

FIGHTING climate change is a holy duty, the Church of England said yesterday.

It called for a new generation of vicars to have training in ‘eco-theology’ and ‘eco-justice’. Churchgoers are even to be encouraged to skip lunch on the first day of every month in a fast against climate change.

The General Synod, the CofE’s parliament, adopted a wholesale green agenda, saying it was ‘called to protect the earth now and for the future’. It called on governments to limit the global rise in temperatures to no more than two degrees Celsius.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, said the faithful must set an example to others. He suggested the synod could use less paper and cut back on travel. Another speaker in the debate in York said putting solar panels on vicarage roofs could help save the planet.

Each of the CofE’s dioceses will be asked to appoint its own environmental officer to encourage green behaviour.

The Bishop of Sheffield, the Right Rev Steven Croft, called for ‘an ecological conversion of individuals and communities’.

But the synod drew back from instructing all churchgoers that skipping a sandwich to save the planet on the first day of every month was a duty. Instead it voted to ‘encourage prayer and fasting for climate justice’ on the first of the month.

The CoE’s chief spokesman on climate change, the Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Rev Nicholas Holtam, said: ‘There has been some puzzlement about encouraging prayer and fasting. It’s not just about skipping a sandwich but helping those of us who are well fed to notice what it means to be hungry and to hunger for justice.’

Only six of the 479 synod members voted against the declaration. But Rochester lay representative Martin Sewell said environmental campaigners had a record of making failed apocalyptic warnings.