Volunteer as an Environmental Champion
The Church in Wales has committed to achieving Carbon Net Zero by 2030 in response to the climate crisis.
The Church in Wales’s Net Zero Carbon Framework is now available online and provides a comprehensive toolkit to help churches take their first steps to net zero.
Eco Church is the ideal vehicle for churches and Ministry Areas to achieve this.
To that end we need volunteers to be Climate Champion/Point of Contact at parish and MA level to grow the Eco Network in the Diocese of Llandaff.
If your church doesn’t have a Climate Champion/Point of Contact and you know someone who is interested in volunteering, please inform Gavin Douglas via gavinadouglas@yahoo.co.uk
The Church in Wales 10 Point Plan suggests actions every church can take, starting with small steps and building up towards larger targets...
- Establish an Eco Group and appoint a Climate Champion/Point of Contact. We need Climate Champions/Point of Contact at Parish, MA and Deanery level.
- Declare a Climate Emergency and devise an environmental policy.
- Register with A Rocha Eco Church.
- Measure your carbon footprint using the Energy Footprint Tool (EFT).
- Devise a Climate Action Plan.
- Develop a roster for routine church maintenance and repair.
- Arrange an energy audit.
- Develop a specific heating strategy. Sooner or later gas /oil boilers will need to be renewed/replaced.
- Switch energy tariffs to a (genuine) Green Tariff.
- Offset the remainder of your emissions. Make something of your church grounds, for example, wilderness areas, orchards, vegetable plots, etc.
The Climate Champion/Point of Contact role involves receiving environmental information by email, attending Eco Network meetings and sharing the information with their PCC. Along the way there will be mutual support and sharing ideas and best practice will help churches, congregations, MAs and Deaneries on the journey to Carbon Net Zero.
They don’t need to be a PCC member but do need to keep the PCC updated. If your church has already signed up for Eco Church, the person leading on this for your parish may be appropriate. In some dioceses, parishes have appointed two Lead Climate Champion/Point of Contact to support each other.