Churches and faith groups have a vital role to play in accelerating the transition to a net zero economy and financing a liveable future.
Churches and faith groups collectively manage billions of dollars of investments globally - money that can help solve the climate crisis.
Some UK faith groups such as the Quakers in Britain, the Church of Ireland, the Diocese of Truro, and the Church of England’s Church Commissioners for England are now doing just that by investing in climate solutions.
Our report, Church Investment in Climate Solutions: Financing a Liveable Future, reiterates the finding that if the world were to redirect the $570 billion of annual planned oil and gas investments towards renewables, this could fully finance wind and solar expansion in line with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement – a target that is quickly slipping away unless we act quickly. We believe the church has an important prophetic role to play in the transition to a low carbon, liveable future.
We have identified opportunities for investment in climate solutions, including:
- Renewable energy, which is cheaper than fossil fuels, can be deployed more quickly and can close the energy access gap for 770 million without electricity
- Energy storage, a key technology for accelerating the decarbonisation of the electricity grid and which is forecast to grow by 15% due to policy developments
- Buildings and energy efficiency, from greener materials to retrofitting buildings
- Public transport and electric vehicles, investment that will be needed to reduce the 15% contribution that transport makes to overall greenhouse gas emissions
- Land use and sustainable forestry, which the FIIND Impact Foundation identifies as the second most ‘investable’ sector that it analysed, after electricity production
- Clean cookstoves, an important solution in tackling global poverty and reducing emissions, as 2.8 billion people still lack access to clean cooking fuels
Green Investment Declaration
in climate solutions
