14 DAY TRIAL // Regardless of some people's opinion of it, the fact remains that religion has the power to set things in motion. Hence, environmentalists will be glad to hear that the Church of England has recently agreed to lend its support to ongoing efforts to limit climate change and global warming.
More precisely, the Church of England has said that, given the urgency to fight the “great demon” that is climate change, it is ready and willing to do its best to convince companies that have been documented to contribute to this phenomenon by polluting the environment to improve on their ecological footprint.
Apparently, it plans to do so either by badgering the leaders of these companies, or by taking drastic action and cutting all ties with those who refuse to try and limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions they put into the atmosphere on a yearly basis.
As the Church of England sees things, the companies that do not agree to get behind the fight against climate change and global warming are guilty of not caring about theological, moral and social priorities, and must therefore be shunned.
“Climate change is in sharp focus at the moment, with the UK experiencing such extreme flooding that even the chief scientist of the Met Office links [it] to climate change - not to mention forest fires in Australia and blizzards in the USA,” said the Rev Canon Professor Richard Burridge at a synod meeting in London.
“Make no mistake, we reserve the final option of disinvesting from those particular companies who resist change,” he added, as cited by Business Green.
Despite this promise that the Church of England will cut all ties with companies that refuse to green up their ways, Rev Canon Professor Richard Burridge, together with the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group, stresses that the best option remains keeping contact with high-polluting businesses.
This is because, over the years, 72% of the companies in the United Kingdom known to have an impressive ecological footprint, and in which the Church invested or was otherwise engaged with, have managed to cut down on their emissions after being advised and encouraged to do so.
The synod during which these observations and promises were made ended with the approval of plans to set up a so-called working group on environmental issues, whose purpose is to keep tabs on what the Church of England is doing to combat climate change, global warming and pollution.