England?s historic churches and cathedrals face the same tough choices forced on us all by climate change says the UK's Climate Change and Environment Minister Ian Pearson.

Speaking at the Cathedrals and Climate Change Conference at Lambeth Palace, organised by the Association of English Cathedrals, 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.
 
Mr Pearson said: ?Medieval cathedrals stand today as monuments to the skill, ingenuity and ambition of the engineers and architects of their time: a testament to the potential of mankind to solve problems creatively and with dedication. We need to apply this creativity to finding 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?.

"Churches and cathedrals are already doing innovative, practical work to reduce their 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.?

There are many examples of the Church already taking the initiative, such as:

• A new booklet, entitled ?How many light bulbs does it take to change a Christian??, which is part of the Church of England?s Shrinking the Footprint Campaign, is a practical guide with green tips for individuals, communities and their churches.
• Portsmouth Cathedral, who last summer let their youth group do an environmental audit of the cathedral. One of their canons is now an environmental watchdog. At one of their services, they also gave away low energy light bulbs and loo flush reducers to the congregation.
• St Paul?s Cathedral?s Costing the Earth series 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 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group two report in April this year - the work of thousands of independent scientists across the world ? concluded that rising temperatures caused by human induced climate change over the last 30 years have already had an impact on people and the environment. 

Some of the risks that face Durham cathedral have already been highlighted in a study by the Environment Agency. Buildings on clay can also experience problems such as subsidence and rotting wood. UNESCO recently published a report on world heritage sites and climate change. Westminster Abbey was used as a case study in the report. It recognised that flood inundation from the Thames may be a problem. While many cathedrals are built on hills there are some such as Winchester, Salisbury and the London buildings that may be at risk from flash flooding because of heavy rainfall.

More information on the Church of England?s National Environmental Campaign can be found at Shrinking the Footprint

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