Environment E-news

Issue 50 | July 2023

God's Green Fingers Environment E-news

For Christians there is no off button for being a disciple. As caring for God’s creation is one of our primary purposes, it threads through everything we do. That’s reflected in the news stories in this months’ edition of God’s Green Fingers.

Read about an amazing array of love in action: churches that have been counting creatures in their churchyards; how your church can record it’s carbon footprint; Denholme Shared Church’s new Community Eco Garden; Wakefield Cathedral’s Eco Church award; and how coffee drinkers are concerned about climate change.

Note: Some of the articles below link to the Church Times. You can read up to four Church Times articles each month free of charge by registering on their website.

God bless

Jemima Parker,

Diocesan Environment Officer

jemima.parker@leeds.anglican.org

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News

Wakefield Cathedral Celebrate Bronze Eco Church Award

Wakefield Cathedral is celebrating green success, as they recently achieved their Bronze Eco Church Award. The cathedral has engaged with lots of different areas to achieve this award, including running a Gaia Festival, where they hosted the Gaia touring artwork.

Bumblebees are Top of the Church Plots

Bumblebees were the most reported insect in England’s churchyards and burial grounds in this year's Churches Count on Nature survey. The results come from a recent nature-count conducted by local communities from 3 to 11 June 2023. Volunteers from across the diocese took part in Churches Count on Nature or Yorkshire Wildlife’s Great Creature Count, an opportunity for local communities to come together to record the wildlife found in churchyards and burial grounds.

Bradford Church Greens Community with New Eco Garden

One of our Bradford churches is helping their area be greener with their new eco garden. Denholme Shared Church recently officially opened their new Community Eco Garden. The brainchild of members of the church’s Vision Group, the project is part of working towards the Eco Church Bronze Award which the church hopes to achieve very soon.

Pedal Pilgrimage Made Between our Three Cathedrals

Thirteen cyclists took part in a day of cycling on Friday, June 9, with two riders heading from Ripon Cathedral to Bradford, ten from Bradford Cathedral to Wakefield, and one covering the entire journey! Cyclists from across Yorkshire made the pedal pilgrimage between the three Cathedrals of the Diocese of Leeds as part of this year’s Cathedrals Cycle Relay. The relay, which fell within the 100th annual Bike Week, is the third time it has taken place at the cathedrals.

Energy Footprint Tool 2022 Closing Soon

The C of E’s tool to enable you to measure your church's carbon footprint will close at the end of July. Make sure you don't miss the chance to enter your data. You'll need the information from your 2022 fuel bills to hand, and then you can work out your carbon footprint. As well as helping you plan for energy reductions, the data provides you with a carbon report to include in your annual church reports and will give access to additional funding in the future.

Find out more here

Church of England Fossil Fuel Divestment Announcement

The Church Commissioners and Church of England Pensions Board recently each announced they will independently disinvest from fossil fuels this year, as the Church of England’s National Investing Bodies (NIBs) reported back to the General Synod on progress against a 2018 Synod motion, which set out a five-year strategy to invest in climate solutions, engage with high carbon emitting companies, and disinvest from fossil fuel companies not aligned with the Paris Agreement.

Read the Pension Board announcement

Read the Church Commissioners announcement

Learn More About Bats in Your Church

If you think that bats use the interior of your church in the summer, but you don't know which species, the Bats in Churches Project can help you find out. They will loan you a Peersonic device from June until the end of August. The device stays in the church for a couple of nights and records bat calls. The project will pay postage, provides instructions and will look through the sound files and give you the results.

Find out more and book your equipment here

Three Eco Motions for General Synod in York

Climate change could potentially have three outings at the meeting of the General Synod in York next week, if contingency business linking it with biodiversity is also taken. There will be a presentation on Saturday morning by the National Investing Bodies (NIBs) and on Sunday afternoon, the Bishop of Reading, is due to move a motion on behalf of the Oxford diocesan synod, “Responding to the Climate Emergency”.

UK Coffee-drinkers Wake Up to Climate Change Threat

Coffee-drinkers in the UK fear that their daily caffeine hit could be under threat as climate change is making the lives of producers more difficult, a Christian Aid poll suggests. More than half of the 2000 UK adults surveyed by Savanta said that they were worried about the availability of coffee and its rising costs. Christian Aid’s report Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, urges the Government to boost climate finance to support farmers and cancel debts.

Events and Webinars - Local

11 July Resourcing Creationtide

This session aims to briefly explore the theology behind creation care and to signpost you to resources to help children, young people and families learn and wrestle with environmental issues and faith during Creationtide.