In 2022, the UK recorded the highest temperatures ever. And records were broken across the world together with extreme climate events. What can we do to help slow this trend and to demonstrate our love for God's creation? Cutting our church's carbon footprint is one way. Every little bit we do counts.
The easy-to-use Energy Footprint Tool will tell your church what your "carbon footprint" is, based on the energy you use to heat and light your buildings. You can find it on the Online Parish Returns System.
This is now open for entry of 2022 data. Your 2022 data should be submitted by the end of July 2023.
In February 2020, the General Synod announced an ambitious target for the Church of England to become net zero by 2030. The Energy Footprint Tool is an important step in measuring a baseline of current emissions, and to measure progress towards achieving this goal.
This is a first step for the Church of England to understand and monitor the footprint of some 40,000 buildings across England. More and more parishes are getting involved and adding their data every day. Helping to build up a picture for the church to take action.
The Energy Footprint Tool is available for all parishes using the Online Parish Returns System and only takes ten minutes to complete. The Diocese of Manchester have created a short instructional video in how to use it. To complete the tool, you will need to have the whole of last year's electricity and gas/oil bills. The Energy Footprint Tool will tell your church the amount of carbon produced annually by heating and lighting your church buildings. There are two useful graphs that show you your efficiency scores: one for energy efficiency based on building size and one for attendance. It can take account of separate buildings such as church halls, as long as you have the utility bills for them.
The EFT is now open for you to enter your 2022 utility bills. It remains open until July 31st 2023.
For more information and answers to FAQs, see our Energy Footprint Tool page.