Nine Catholic bishops and the Jesuit provincial were among the 500 signatories of a letter to the prime minister from Church leaders and clergy, demanding “global leadership on the climate crisis”.
The letter calls on the government “to provide financial and fiscal support for renewable energy and energy efficiency”. It also demands support for vulnerable households affected by price rises “through measures including a windfall tax on oil and gas companies”.
The Catholic archbishops of Birmingham, Cardiff, and Glasgow signed the letter, as well as the Bishop of Salford, John Arnold, the lead on the environment for the bishops’ conference of England and Wales.
Other signatories include Fr Damien Howard SJ, the Jesuit provincial in Britain, Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and sixty other Catholic and Anglican bishops, as well as heads of religious orders and leaders of nonconformist churches.
They urge the government to use its spring statement to fund solar and wind energy and the retrofitting of houses to improve insulation, rather than to support new oil and gas developments.
“These measures would reduce heating bills, decrease carbon emissions, and increase our energy security,” the letter says.
It also points to the commitment of many churches to decarbonise their buildings and reach net zero by 2030, “including through the installation of solar panels, heat pumps, and other energy efficiency measures”. The signatories say that the £20 billion of church assets under management should play a role in wider investment in the environmental sector.
“Working with other investors, churches can make a significant impact in tackling the climate crisis and in supporting a fair and fast transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy.”
Commenting on the letter, Christine Allen, the director of Cafod, said: “It’s never been more clear, nor more urgent, that we need a just transition to a low carbon economy. For the world’s poor, access to energy is a matter of survival.”
However, many charities voiced disappointment with the spring statement delivered on 23 March, describing it as a “missed opportunity”.
“The government continues to squander opportunities to lead the country out of the pandemic into a fairer and more just future,” said the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
Christians Against Poverty, the debt advice charity, said the statement offered “very little to help the most vulnerable and to provide for the longer term financial security of those on the lowest incomes.”
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