Climate Change an "Unprecedented Challenge" to Cathedrals

England's historic churches and cathedrals face the same tough choices forced on us all by climate change, Climate Change and Environment Minister Ian Pearson said at the Cathedrals and Climate Change Conference at Lambeth Palace earlier this week.

The conference was hosted by the Association of English Cathedrals to consider the part all 43 Church of England cathedrals can play in addressing global warming.

Mr Pearson welcomed the commitment of churches and cathedrals to join the national effort to cut carbon emissions and start adapting to the inevitable impacts climate change will have on our historic environment.

He said cathedrals were "important spiritual, historic and cultural buildings".

"They play a vital role as a focus for worship, as the hub of faith communities, as a cultural symbol for the region and as international icons that make an important contribution to the tourism economy."

He warned, however, that if cathedrals did not adapt to climate change now, they would face crisis in the coming century.

"They are not immune to the effects of climate change," he said. "We need to take care of our cathedrals now, as they need to be prepared for the more extreme weather of the future and must start adapting if they are still to be standing a century from now.

Mr Pearson went on to urge cathedrals to find suitable climate solutions.

"While a wind-turbine on St Paul's might raise a few eyebrows, I'd love to see solar panels on church halls, biomass boilers in church schools, and maybe in future we should be thinking about how, by using microgeneneration, cathedrals can help produce energy as well as use it," he said.

Mr Pearson said that climate change would affect everyone on an individual level, and could not be a problem for governments or businesses alone.

"The Church of England and other faith groups can play a vital part in promoting action against climate change here in the UK and internationally," he said, as he praised the innovative and practical work that many churches and cathedrals were already doing to reduce their carbon emissions and adapt to climate change.

"They can mobilise communities and are spreading the message that doing something about climate change needn't involve a grand gesture - every small step is important."

The Church of England has already come up with a number of new initiatives to help its member churches tackle climate change. It recently published a new booklet, 'How many light bulbs does it take to change a Christian?', which is part of the Church of England's Shrinking the Footprint Campaign, and is a practical guide with green tips for individuals, communities and their churches.

Last summer, Portsmouth Cathedral let its youth group do an environmental audit of the cathedral, one of their canons is now an environmental watchdog, and at one of its services, cathedral staff gave away low energy light bulbs and loo flush reducers to the congregation.

St Paul's Cathedral's Costing the Earth series, meanwhile, has stimulated debate from the worlds of economics, science, religion and business to address the issues of climate change and how individuals can play a part in working for a sustainable future for our planet.

The Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres said: "The Archbishop of Canterbury has several times pointed out that we have no right to appeal to our contemporaries on this issue if we have failed to put our own house in order. There is spiritual work and there is scrutiny of our own life together in our use of the gifts of creation.

"We can all as individuals play our part and the Church is well placed in the local community to build change in this area."