The church intends to erect wind turbines on some of the 15 sites in Wales and Scotland that it bought last year for £49 million
Phil Noble/PA
Ben Webster Environment Editor
Published at 12:01AM, November 14 2015
The Church of England has accused the government of betraying its climate change pledges, as the church unveiled plans to build wind farms.
The church, the largest private owner of forests in Britain, intends to erect wind turbines on some of its 13,000 hectares of forest, including on some of the 15 sites in Wales and Scotland that it bought last year for £49 million.
It revealed its plans as its lead bishop on the environment, the Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Rev Nicholas Holtam, said that the government’s removal of subsidies had weakened its ability to argue for a strong global deal on climate change.
The bishop said that David Cameron would have less chance of persuading other countries to take more action on emissions because he had cut subsidies for wind and solar power at home. He said that the government’s decision to exclude onshore wind farms from a subsidy scheme and cut support for solar power by 87 per cent was “very disappointing” and had weakened the UK’s hand” at the forthcoming UN climate change summit in Paris.
The bishop blessed 50 pilgrims yesterday as they set off to walk from London to Paris to highlight a call by the church and Christian charities for a “fair ambitious and binding climate deal”. They are due to arrive in Paris just before the summit starts on November 30.
The bishop also criticised the prime minister, saying: “The government has pulled back from its commitment to renewable energy. It’s strained the political consensus there has been over this in the UK.”
The government had destabilised the renewable energy industry just as it was nearing the point where it could become subsidy-free, he added.
The folly of the government’s actions had been exposed by the admission this week by Amber Rudd, the energy secretary, that Britain was on course to miss its legally binding target for generating 15 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020, the bishop said. “I want our government to be more ambitious,” he added.
He suggested that the government was failing to match its words on climate change with actions. “It’s about the connection between our beliefs and values and the policies we commit to. We need our politicians to make those connections. They have given uncertain signals.”
Edward Mason, the head of responsible investment for the church, said that it was looking to use its position as the UK’s largest private owner of forests to generate renewable energy. “We have been actively exploring it since we made the acquisition. A lot of forest sites can be suitable for onshore wind because they are not in areas that are heavily populated. So some of the controversies you can get around onshore wind would not necessarily apply.”
He said that investment in wind farms would comply with the church’s ethical policy and meet its “risk and return criteria”. He added: “This is a very important moral priority and the church needs to witness it in its investments as it does in its mission.”
Tim Liddon, Scotland manager for Tilhill Forestry, which manages forests, said there was a dilemma with building wind farms in forests because large amounts of trees needed to be removed to ensure smooth wind flow to extract maximum power from the turbines.
Income beats McDonald’s
The Church defended its wealth after accounts revealing that its income was greater than that of McDonald’s. In 2013 it was £1.41 billion, while McDonald’s earned £1.37 billion in Britain. The church said: “[Our] income may be bigger than a certain burger joint but then we have far more outlets to spend it on. [It] is all ploughed back into our seven-day-a-week work supporting our priests and churches who provide a Christian presence in every community. Our 16,000 church buildings house food banks, credit unions, post offices, libraries and places for reflection, prayer and worship, [and provide] a home for clubs.”
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