Today's lesson for the bishops: go greener
Church of England bishops should abandon their draughty historic palaces and gas-guzzling cars to counter global warming, one of the world’s most eminent climate scientists said yesterday.
Sir John Houghton, the former chief executive of the Met Office and the first chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that the Church was breaking the Ten Commandments if it failed to take a moral lead.
Sir John’s comments, which coincide with the publication of the panel’s latest report, are especially telling as he is an evangelical Christian who advises Christian organisations and has influenced the thinking of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
He said that the Church must take a lead by lobbying the Government and by reducing its own carbon emissions.
“The Bible says ‘Love does no harm to its neighbour’,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “But climate change shows us that our energy-hungry lifestyles are harming our poorer neighbours across the world. We have a moral imperative to act.
“Some bishops have already moved into more fuel-efficient homes. They certainly need to live in smaller properties and, where they can’t, at least look at their properties and lag the roofs.”
Sir John said that bishops should also drive hybrid cars powered by a mixture of petrol and electricity, such as the Toyota Prius favoured by Dr Williams.
“Bishops need to make sure that they are doing as much as they feasibly can,” he said. “They need to educate their parishioners so that they are making changes too, as well as lobbying Government.”
His call to Church leaders came as the Christian development agency, Tearfund, published guidelines for churches on how to be more green.
They included installing wind turbines and solar panels on homes, and using china rather than plastic cups for after-church coffee.
Originally published in Daily Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1541486/Todays-lesson-for-the-bishops-go-greener.html
in Religious Affairs
About Hazel
Hazel Southam is an award-winning journalist who reports on religious affairs, international development and the environment. She has covered four G8 Summits.
She wrote for The Sunday and Daily Telegraph for 10 years. Her work has also appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard.
Reporting assignments have taken her to places including Bosnia, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Albania, Nagorno-Karabakh, Senegal and the Arctic Circle.
In the UK, she has also delivered media training to the MOD and leading businesses.
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