Friends share ‘sustainability journey’
‘Faith, Energy and Climate: Retrofitting places of worship in the UK’ will take place on 8 April
Cotteridge Friends are taking part in a national webinar about making faith buildings more energy-efficient in response to climate change.
Quaker Harriet Martin will be speaking about Cotteridge Meeting’s sustainability journey and Gold Eco Church award. The Quakers won the award in 2019 for reducing the carbon footprint of their all-electric building by ninety-eight per cent over fifteen years, while CO2 emissions dropped from 26.4 tons in 2014 to 0.6 tons in 2019.
The event on 8 April is called ‘Faith, Energy and Climate: Retrofitting places of worship in the UK’. According to the organisers, Footsteps and Ashden Climate Solutions, ‘There are over 40,000 faith-related buildings in the UK that not only require a significant amount of energy to heat, but also represent key social assets that can be utilised as a route to engage wider communities on climate action.’
The gathering aims to share insights about the journey a place of worship can go on to improve its energy efficiency, spotlighting examples such as Cotteridge Meeting House and the Al-Mahdi Institute.
Chris Martin, from Cotteridge Meeting, said that ‘Quaker influence and support runs right through [the event], and it is a good example of Quakers working with others’.
He added: ‘Both Bournville and Selly Oak Meetings had energy audits undertaken as part of Footsteps’ energy audit scheme, funded largely by Central England Quakers and the TW Greeves Charitable Trust. Tom [Greeves] was a long-standing member of Cotteridge Quakers and one of the Friends leading Cotteridge’s sustainability work in the noughties… So to be now involved with Ashden on this webinar feels like completing a circle.’
