WEDNESDAY'S NEWS

Environmental Issues
(from Elaine Whitehouse, Communications Dept, RCB)

The working group on environmental issues set up by the Standing Committee of the General Synod following the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 has submitted its report. Its recommendations included the implementation of a Church of Ireland environmental policy at all levels as well as several specific measures to help parishes and other church bodies minimise their negative environmental impact.

The proposed environmental policy would commit the Church to carrying out all its “functions and activities in ways which minimise negative impact on the environment”. This would be effected by measures such as the monitoring and improvement of energy use, the setting of targets for reduced waste generation and the promotion of recycling.

The Rev Canon George Davison, seconding the report of the Standing Committee, described the working group’s recommendations as “inspiring” and “practical” and said that these were ways in which the Church could offer “leadership which is Christian, biblical and relevant to the world which we all inhabit”.

The working group also recommended the establishment of a new ‘Energy and Ecology Fund’ to encourage parishes and people to go ‘carbon-neutral’ by offsetting the carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels by means of a voluntary ‘carbon tax’.

Speaking during the debate on the Standing Committee’s report the Very Rev Alan Marley of the Diocese of Cork asked Synod members to explore the possibilities for environmental awareness in their everyday lives, starting with the number of cars in the car park for the Synod session and the number of light bulbs used to light the debating chamber.

The Rt Rev Richard Henderson, Bishop of Tuam, applauded efforts in progressing towards more ecologically sound ways of living and urged that the Church should also use its prophetic voice on environmental issues without waiting until it had its own house in perfect order.

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