PORTSMOUTH Diocese has been awarded a Bronze Eco Diocese award by A Rocha, the organisation that runs the Eco Church project.

The award was presented during our first Net Zero Carbon Conference, held at Portsmouth Cathedral on January 18, by Andy Atkins, the CEO of A Rocha UK. You can find out more about the conference here.

Andy shared on how encouraging it is to see more dioceses take a lead on environmental care and embed it as part of their mission. He shared that he longed to see “a thriving church and thriving environment. Climate change is such a significant issue now that the church must make it part of its mission to act responsibly and immediately.” 

During his seminar at the conference, he encouraged churches to investigate various ways to reduce carbon – quick wins or large-scale projects – and also embed creation care in the theology and culture in their church, as well as radical engagement with the wider community.

As Bishop Jonathan, along with diocesan environment officer David Cain, received the award he expressed his thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm that parishes and eco groups had shown to giving creation care a greater precedence in their communities and lives. He challenged churches to prioritise engaging with young people on the issues of climate change and the reduction of carbon emissions and enable their voices to be heard.

Eco Diocese awards are given to dioceses that demonstrate strong levels of local parish and school engagement in caring for the earth. The criteria for receiving the award includes having a diocese environmental policy, meeting a threshold of parishes registered and awarded in the Eco Church project as well as diocesan administrative buildings, embedding in ongoing ministerial and lay training and in schools, ethical financial investments, implementing carbon reduction plans, and collaboration with other dioceses and community groups.

Our diocese currently has 82 parishes registered for Eco Church, almost 50 per cent of the diocese, with 46 awarded parishes, including one Gold award on the Isle of Wight. You can find out more about Eco Church here, and register your church here.