We acknowledge that God created and holds together all life and that all life exists in an intimate, mutually supporting relationship sustained by and reflective of God’s love. The action of human beings is placing the whole community in peril. We wish to turn to Jesus for inspiration to be a medium for change. We understand the need to seek ways to translate our commitment into actions that demonstrate our love and care for the earth which in Christ accompanies us in our active hope in His approaching kingdom.

We see our objectives as being:

To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom: to celebrate the gift of creation and show its spiritual and practical value to all.

To teach, baptise and nurture new believers: to promote environmental mindfulness as an intrinsic part of our approach to Christian life.

To respond to human need by loving service: encouraging a way of living and ordering one’s life in community, with care for the land and all its creatures in response to problems such as climate disruption, water scarcity, flooding, and habitat destruction as they impact on the world.

To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind, and to pursue peace and reconciliation: by seeking to value the ‘free’ nature of environmental resources and challenge the economic structures that take advantage of this at Creation’s expense.

To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth: by establishing the diocese’s own environmental impacts through our Church buildings, many of them listed, ministry houses, and Church schools. Using this understanding we plan to devise a strategy to improve their environmental performance.

The Diocese commits itself to:

• proclaim God’s great love for the whole of Creation by incorporating wider environmental concerns into theological and liturgical life.
• understand how the Diocesan buildings, land, travel, and other activities impact the environment and devise a strategy to manage these issues.
• acknowledge the climate crisis and aim to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030 in line with the Church of England’s environmental policy.
• aim to achieve Eco Diocese Bronze Award by the end of 2022 and to support parish Churches to become Eco Churches engaging with broader aspects of their environmental and ethical practice.
• strive for ecological transformation, safeguarding our Creator’s biodiversity and allowing us to walk more gently on the earth.