In September 2019, in the light of the climate and loss of biodiversity crises, Christ Church launched an “Eco -Group”, with the aim of examining our own responsibilities in this area. By working towards the A Rocha Eco-Church awards, we are looking at all aspects of church life, from the way we use our buildings and grounds to the worship and teaching and our individual lifestyles. Through regular input into Church meeting and items in our monthly magazine, Comment, these issues are kept in the foreground of our thinking. The most recent four articles in Comment can be found below.
JUNE 2023 - We have now been awarded the A Rocha Bronze Award - Certificate here
Item from April 2026
Can the country afford the cost of transitioning to a low carbon economy?
A popular argument against measures to combat climate change – replacing our dependence on fossil fuels with renewables, for example – is that the costs are just too great and would adversely affect our economy. But a report published by the Climate Change Committee on 11th March, refutes this argument, concluding that achieving Net Zero is a more cost-effective path for the UK economy than continued reliance on fossil fuels.
So what is the Climate Change Committee? It is an independent, statutory body, established under the Climate Change Act 2008, to provide advice to the government on reducing emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Nigel Topping, Chair of the Climate Change Committee, said “There has been a lot of public interest in the cost of transitioning to a low carbon economy. Going through an economic transition is exciting, but a sense of uncertainty about the future is completely reasonable. As such, it’s important that decision makers and commentators are using accurate information to inform debates. “
In all scenarios tested by the CCC, achieving Net Zero was found to be more advantageous for the UK economy than continued dependence on fossil fuels, bringing not only a net economic benefit to society but also greater health and well-being. Among its key findings are that, for every pound spent on progress to Net Zero, the benefits outweigh this cost by between 2.2 and 4.1 times. There is significant cost saving through avoiding the damage from severe, weather-related events; this saving alone is estimated at between £40 billion and £130 billion in 2050.
Current world events are also emphasising the dangers from being reliant on foreign fossil fuels. The CCC found that the cost of achieving Net Zero by 2050 is actually less than the total additional cost of a single fossil fuel price spike of the magnitude of that in 2022, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We do need clean, reliable, domestic energy.
So the question is not so much can we afford the transition to green energy but can we afford not to?
Item from February 2026
As Storm Goretti barely affected us here in Suffolk, it is easy to forget that, in Cornwall in particular, there is still much to do to clear up the aftermath. On St Michael’s Mount, a place many of us will have visited, 80% of trees were uprooted and similar damage was caused throughout the county. It is well established that severe weather events such as this are to be expected in our warming climate and sadly the damage they cause further depletes the environment. A significant loss of trees, for example, results in loss of habitat and therefore biodiversity as well as the capacity of those trees to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The last three years were the world's warmest ever recorded, bringing the planet closer to breaching international climate targets. The global average temperature in 2025 was more than 1.4C above "pre-industrial" levels of the late 1800s. 1.4C may not sound much but this is an average and therefore masks the greater extremes of temperature that many places are experiencing.
Meanwhile, in the face of the geo-political turmoil in the world at present, climate matters seem to have slipped down the agendas of world leaders. However, this definitely does not mean that we should lose heart - thankfully, there are many examples of progress, innovation and real stories of people restoring our planet.
Here are just a few good-news examples. Green sea turtles have officially been reclassified from “endangered” to “least concern” thanks to decades of marine conservation. This year, for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal. A new study from the University of Surrey named solar energy the cheapest source of power, outranking coal and gas as well as other renewables. Aerial photos are revealing a huge and rapid spread of wind and solar projects in China. On a smaller scale, many residents in central Athens are looking after beehives on the rooftops of their apartment buildings and, more locally, at the Martlesham Wilds Nature Reserve the Suffolk Wildlife Trust are working successfully to restore habitats to allow nature to recover and re-establish.
Yes, we need commitment and action by the big and powerful, but many small, local actions can also produce very meaningful change. We can all be a part of that.
Eco-Tip for February
Can you manage a whole month without using cling film? It is produced, using vast amounts of energy, from petroleum and natural gas and does not break down after use, creating dangerous micro-plastics. Cover food instead with a plate or clean tea-towel or store in an air-tight Tupperware type box. (Clingfilm can be useful in a medical emergency for burns and scalds so it is handy to have some nearby but put it to the back of the cupboard!)
Item from December 2025/January 2026
How green is your Christmas?
This month’s article consists entirely of some “eco-tips” for December and Christmas. Some are more realistic than others, maybe some will have no relevance to you at all, but perhaps there is something here that is helpful and achievable or at least makes us think!
- Turn off your Christmas lights when you're not in/overnight.
- Go green with your gift wrapping. In the UK we use 108 million rolls of wrapping paper at Christmas. Can you re-use any or replace with reusable fabric?
- Ditch the traditional Sellotape, which is plastic. Sellotape now produce Sellotape Zero, which is plastic free and biodegradable or use sticky brown paper tape.
- Make gift tags from the previous year’s Christmas cards.
- Avoid paper and cards that are shiny or have glitter on as these cannot be recycled.
- Most of us have decorations which we enjoy bringing out year after year and it is good to re-use decorations for as long as we can. But if you want something new, try not to buy plastic but use natural things such as greenery, pinecones or dried orange slices.
- A scary amount of food waste is created at Christmas, equivalent to 4.2 million plates of Christmas dinner going straight into the bin! Cut food waste by planning ahead and being realistic about what you need. If you have leftovers, most can be frozen.
- Shop locally whenever you can.
- Try to avoid buying perishable food or flowers that have been flown from far away. (Difficult when supermarket labels do not give us this information!)
- Most Christmas crackers are not recyclable and the toys inside are often made of plastic that is thrown away very quickly. (Do we really need them?)
And have a very happy Christmas and New Year!
Item from November 2025
While a certain world leader denies the existence of a growing climate crisis, calling it "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world", Pope Leo XIV is standing up for climate and environmental care and justice. Speaking at an event to mark 10 years since the publication of Laudato Si', the landmark document on climate published by Pope Francis in 2015, he called for greater action on climate change, saying there is “no room for indifference or resignation”. Laudato Si is credited with helping to encourage leaders working on the Paris climate agreement which was signed later that year and Pope Leo is committed to continue in Pope Francis’s footsteps.
Pope Leo said: "Some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming, and even to blame the poor for the very thing that affects them the most." He called for a change of heart to truly embrace the environmental cause and said any Christian should be onboard. “We cannot love God, whom we cannot see, while despising his creatures. Nor can we call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ without participating in his outlook on creation and his care for all that is fragile and wounded,”
Pope Francis had emphasised that ‘the most effective solutions will not come from individual efforts alone, but above all from major political decisions on the national and international levels’ and Pope Leo echoed this, calling for increased pressure on politicians. He added that citizens across the world need to take an active role in political decisions, saying "only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment".
"God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created for the benefit of all and for future generations, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters - what will be our answer, my dear friends?" Pope Leo said.
Pope Leo has agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a field north of Rome into a vast solar farm, which, once up and running, is expected to make Vatican City the world’s first carbon-neutral state. Quite a statement!
Eco-Tip for November: For those of us who are able, just enjoy an autumn walk!
Stop Press The UN has just released data showing that the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere is not going down. In 2024, the amount emitted, far from reducing, actually rose by a record amount. As Pope Leo has said, “no room for indifference.”