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European Climate Pact
non-profit organisation

The Church of England Diocese in Europe (DiE)

Overview

Location

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Organisation type
Non-profit

Description of organisation

The Church of England Diocese in Europe (DiE) is composed of 147 chaplaincies, some of which have multiple congregations (almost 300 in total), plus a Diocese level structure – the Bishop, Suffragan (Assistant) Bishop and a small Diocesan staff. The Bishop’s office is in Brussels, although for historical reasons, some of his staff are based in London.*

*Source

 

GHG Emissions

Our actions – the Pathway

The Diocese aims to reach net zero emissions by 2030

This is a pledge to have an absolute/intensity emissions reduction target (scope 1+2) with a 5-15 years’ time frame and a 2.1% year-on-year reduction at a minimum.

The Diocese aims to reach net zero emissions by 2030 following a motion passed at Diocesan Synod in December 2021: “This Synod pledges to devise and promote a programme of activity across the Diocese so that the Diocese in Europe is in line with the General Synod’s pledge ‘to work to achieve year-on-year reductions in emissions and urgently examine what would be required to reach net zero emissions by 2030’. This work to be led by the Net Carbon Neutral Working Group and reported to Diocesan Synod in June 2022”. A strategy and programme of activity was agreed at the Diocesan Synod in Koln in July 2022.

How we want to achieve this

The organisation seeks to implement practical actions which will immediately reduce emissions, such as moving to energy efficient lighting and renewable energy providers. For this first phase, there is a focus on calculating the existing carbon footprints, collecting data, identifying the current sources of emissions. This baseline data is needed in order to move to the next phase of setting intermediate reduction targets and identifying where it will be most effective to focus subsequent efforts. We recognise that reducing emissions from travel is a particular challenge in a Diocese where individual chaplaincies may cover a large physical area, and where distances between chaplaincies are long, and we are examining strategies to address this. The Church of England has defined the scope of what is included in emissions calculations for its constituent members, and the DiE will apply this. The scope can be found in Appendix 1 of this document: GS Misc 1262 EWG update.pdf (https://europe.anglican.org/main/latest-news/post/1777-net-zero-target-…) (churchofengland.org).

The Church seeks to build networks within the Diocese to share information and support chaplaincies’ work on emissions reductions, and provide training. The Caring for Creation Working Group (the “owner” of the Programme of Activity) will report on its implementation/development to the Bishop’s Council in October, and to the Synod next June. This twice-yearly rhythm will be maintained over the coming years. Further reporting is through the Bishop’s Senior Staff meeting which is held monthly.

More about this target

There are two main tools currently used by Church of England churches in UK and Europe to calculate and track carbon footprints. These are (1) the Energy Footprint Tool Energy Footprint Tool | The Church of England (this only covers buildings, not travel, and relates the emissions to the level of use) and (2) 360Carbon The Collaborative Carbon Calculator for Churches, Synagogues, Charities and Small Businesses. 360°carbon.org (360carbon.org) is a more comprehensive tool. We are analyzing which of the tools mentioned above (or one with a specific adaptation) best fits the European context and our particular needs) . For example, we are more interested in calculating absolute emissions, rather than comparing the relative emissions of different chaplaincies, so may sacrifice the interesting but complicated refinement of linking emissions to person/hours of presence for the simplicity of a basic carbon footprint

Status date: Submitted (15/5/2022)

Data source: https://europe.anglican.org