“Taking action on climate change ‘right thing to do’…

Speaking to a gathering of Church of England diocesan representatives, the Rt Rev Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich said that acting to tackle climate change was the ‘right thing to do’; he thanked parishes and staff for their ‘hard work and commitment’ towards making churches Net Zero by 2030 and their support for churchyards to become havens for biodiversity, both aims backed by the General Synod[1].

Following the General Synod decision in February 2020, new provisions on carbon reduction were introduced under the Faculty Jurisdiction (Amendment) Rules 2022 (“the new provisions”) came into force 1 July 2022. The judgments between these two dates are listed here, and those determinations under the revised provisions here. In both cases these are listed according to the type of heating source.

Background

The first part of this series of posts, “Net zero”, church heating, and the consistory courts – I, (24 May 2021), reviewed twelve judicial considerations of replacement heating schemes, most of which had been handed down post-February 2020, the date on which General Synod unexpectedly agreed to the “net zero by 2030” target for the Church of England’s greenhouse gas emissions. Next, “Net zero”, church heating, and the consistory courts – II, (9 June 2021), reviewed Re St. Thomas & St. Luke Dudley [2021] ECC Wor 2 in which Humphreys Ch. raised the fundamental issue how the consistory courts should approach cases involving the Church of England’s “net zero” target; here she advocated a new statutory duty to be imposed upon chancellors to have regard to the level of carbon emissions of a church and the impact upon them of the works proposed in a faculty petition[2].

In “Net zero”, church heating, and the consistory courts – III, (16 September 2021), these two contrasting approaches discussed in Re St. Thomas & St. Luke Dudley were considered further and areas of commonality explored. These raised some basic questions: how should projects related to the reduction of carbon emissions be assessed, when, and by whom; and associated with these are issues relating to the magnitude of the Church’s GHG emissions and the impacts of their reduction.

The Net Zero Carbon Progress Report – June 2022 states that in relation to Faculty and guidance: “Reviewed the Faculty Rules and successfully brought the revised rules to General Synod in February 2022; Created and shared a wide range of Net Zero Carbon guidance”. These changes include inter alia: a requirement to have due regard to net zero guidance; consultation before starting faculty proceedings; and changes to Lists A and B.

Finally, “Net zero”, church heating, and the consistory courts – IV, (7 July 2022), reviewed further judgments and the forthcoming General Synod debate which was later reported in Synod endorsement for “net zero” plan. This post noted that:

• The Executive Summary indicated that whilst all 42 dioceses have registered for Eco Dioceses, only 29 Diocesan Synods had passed a motion committing to net zero carbon.
• The focus of the actions is on high-energy-consuming buildings, not the smaller less frequently used buildings that already have a very low carbon footprint. For example, a typical small church, not used every day, has an annual carbon footprint of significantly less than an average UK household.
• With regard to Cathedrals and Churches, for 2022 to 2027: “over the duration of a Quinquennium and from 2022, all cathedrals and the top 20% of energy-consuming churches to develop net zero carbon action plans for completion by no later than 2027. These should include, as a minimum, low-carbon heating options to replace fossil-fuel heating at end-of-life, such as heat pumps or far infra-red heating panels.
• The Routemap “is not legislative and does not obligate any part of the Church, subject to its approval by Synod, [it] will form the basis of the road to net zero carbon by 2030“.

Comment

As the fifth in the series, this post covers those judgments under the new provisions up to 31 March 2025 which have been summarized in L&RUK. In the period up until the end of March 2025, we reviewed a total of twenty one consistory court determinations under the new provisions. These covered a range of heating sources: four examples of heat pump installation; five using some form of electrical heating; eight where the primary source was gas; and further four with other modes of heating.

These compare with the twenty three considerations of heating during the previous period. However, of these ten included only a peripheral reference to heating. A few broad conclusions may be drawn, and a detailed analysis of this information will be published at a later date.

Judgments prior to 1 July 2022

Judgments after 1 July 2022

[1] The Press Release notes that General Synod endorsed a plan to reach Net Zero carbon by 2030 at its July session in 2022 and the Net Zero programme’s first impact report can be read here.

[2] Prior to her judgment Re St. Thomas & St. Luke Dudley, Humphreys Ch. published an important article in the Ecclesiastical Law Journal, The Role of the Faculty System in Achieving Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2030. (2021) 23 Ecc LJ 50–66.