From buying carbon-free soap to installing a brand new air source heat pump, reducing your carbon footprint can have a major impact. As a diocese, our motivation for tackling the climate crisis is underpinned by both our Christian theology and the undeniable evidence that climate scientists have been presenting for many years.
Theological underpinning
We are called as Christians to thoughtfully and carefully manage (steward) the whole of God’s creation. As part of this call, we must protect nature and the natural resources we depend upon from damage and abuse and promote social equity by sharing of God’s loving provision for us both now, and for future generations.
These principles are summed up by the Anglican Church’s fifth Mark of Mission which is ‘To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth’. The Diocese of Bath and Wells is committed to shrinking its own carbon footprint to Net Zero by 2030 and to encourage and equip churches and individual Christians to understand the fifth mark of mission and put it into practice in their worship, work and witness.
Scientific evidence
The overwhelming view of climate scientists is that rising human-produced, greenhouse gas emissions are ‘enhancing’ the greenhouse effect and causing a warming of global temperatures. The sharp rise in global temperatures have followed a huge influx in anthropogenic GHGs being pumped into the atmosphere, since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
A multitude of climate models predict that should anthropogenic GHGs continue to rise at current rates, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), the global temperature will also continue to rise at unprecedented rates, resulting in an exacerbation of the impacts we are already seeing today. Climate scientists are reasonably confident that if temperatures continue to rise at current rates, our weather will become even more unpredictable and extreme, and our global climate will reach a ‘tipping point’, which means it will become impossible to reverse the rapidly changing climate and humans will find it increasingly difficult to adapt. There is overwhelming evidence that humans are contributing significantly to current climate change.
Who to contact
If you have any questions regarding the information above, please contact our Environment team.