Bishop Jonathan was joined by the Rt Rev Paul Davies, Bishop of Dorking and the Rt Rev Will Hazelwood, Bishop of Lewes, to discuss their individual journeys towards understanding the effects of climate change and the importance of creation care. They agreed it is something vital within the message of salvation to the world and not a fringe idea. 

Our bishop reflected on how the Five Marks of Mission, adopted by General Synod in 1996, should inspire us as faith communities that social justice and environmental care are as much as a witness to our faith in Jesus as telling others about him.

We were also joined by Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson who shared briefly on what Portsmouth City Council has been doing to reduce the city’s carbon footprint particularly in transport, waste, greening and energy production. The council’s Switch On project has been helping city residents gain access to initiatives that will help save money on energy.

Andy Atkins and Polly Eaton from A Rocha shared about Eco Church and continued on the message of how important it is to understand what climate change actually means, as well as how we can take responsibility for and nurture the land we’ve been given responsibility for. Polly led delegates through an exercise where groups came up with big headlines for significant changes had taken place in their parish to help reduce carbon emissions and enable nature to flourish.

Richard Abraham, former chief operating officer of Portsmouth Cathedral, talked about their ten-year journey to reduce the cathedral’s carbon footprint by 50 per cent on a shoe-string budget, and Sara Collins made us aware of the Nature Premium project that aims to give all school children access to nature. Later in the day Richard took a group on a tour around the cathedral to see in more detail the changes and modifications that had been implemented.

During the day, Andy Atkins, the chief executive of A Rocha presented Bishop Jonathan with a Bronze Eco Diocese award, in acknowledgement of the achievements across Portsmouth our diocese by parishes and eco groups towards reducing carbon emissions, caring for their environment and pursuing more environmentally ethical lifestyles. You can read more about that here.

Steve Collins, net zero carbon programme manager for Portsmouth, Chichester and Guildford, said, “I was so encouraged to see conversations happening, and links developing, between participants who are all on their own journey towards net zero and caring for God’s creation.

“The conference was an important step towards enabling the sharing of learning and encouragement between parishes. It was particularly exciting to learn how Portsmouth Cathedral has been able to do so much with a very limited budget and appreciate how many of their lessons are applicable at a parish level.”

Bishop Jonathan said, “I have been inspired by the enthusiasm, commitment and imagination, demonstrated at our first NZC conference. The challenge before us is significant: but I am encouraged by the steps being taken by so many within the dioceses of Chichester, Portsmouth and Guildford. As we face the challenge and share good practice, we are already benefiting from addressing issues together rather than apart.”

It is hoped that this conference can become an annual event, moving locations between the three dioceses each year. You can see more photos from the conference on Facebook.

To stay informed about future conferences and other events, sign up to our Environment newsletter here. You can read more about Eco Church here, and find out about the organisations we partner with on our Environment page at portsmouth.anglican.org/environment.