Press Release: Churches Prepare for Climate Adaptation in UK
18 November 2025
UK church members have gathered to develop a call to action, urging churches to help their communities adapt to the growing impacts of climate change – from flooding and heatwaves to social disruption. The initiative follows recent warnings from insurance companies that some towns may soon face abandonment due to rising flood risks.
SUMMARY:
- Christians gathered to shape up a “call to action” focussed on the role of churches in helping society adapt to the impacts of climate change.
- Expert speakers warned that adaptation was now as urgent a priority for Churches as reducing carbon emissions .
- Green Christian’s Trustee, Paul Bodenham: churches must be “a beacon of resilience and hope in a time of upheaval.”
- This follows Aviva saying some towns may have to be abandoned as they become uninsurable due to increased flooding.
- Churches nationwide urged to take a lead in local planning for climate resilience.
FULL RELEASE:
Churches urged to give leadership as communities brace for climate impacts
Green Christian have convened experts and concerned Christians to begin mobilising action to help local churches and communities build resilience to growing climate instability.
At a Green Christian conference on 15 November some 80 delegates gathered to prepare a Call to Action focusing on the unique role of churches in supporting their wider community to navigate the escalating impacts of the climate crisis. Climate experts and church leaders were among those who gathered in Peterborough for the one-day event to focus on the ways climate change is already impacting communities in the UK and the role of churches in helping society to adapt, from flooding and food insecurity to social disruption and anxiety.
Just last month, insurer Aviva warned that some UK towns may need to be “abandoned” as rising flood risks make areas uninsurable. The Call to Action will be expanded in the coming months into a practical roadmap for churches to support their communities in navigating the impacts of climate change, while adapting their own practices too. Green Christian is inviting churches across the UK to get in touch via their website or on social media, and host local gatherings using the materials which will be developed from the conference.
Unlike existing green schemes for churches, the conference focused not on reducing our environmental impact but instead on navigating the consequences of climate change for society. Many congregations already play a vital leadership role in their communities, meeting practical, spiritual and emotional needs. This will evolve and shift as the consequences of climate change, such as greater flooding, food insecurity, wildfires and other disruptions, become more evident. The Call to Action, outlined below, will be expanded in the coming weeks with supporting resources.
Paul Bodenham, trustee of Green Christian, said: “The climate crisis is no longer something our churches are preparing for, it is something we are living through. We are already seeing people’s homes flooded, local biodiversity being lost and growing anxiety about the future. The church cannot stand by. In times of crisis we are called to be a place of refuge, of truth-telling, and of moral leadership. Today’s Call to Action is about equipping every church, large or small, rural or urban, to be a beacon of resilience and hope in a time of upheaval.”
Rupert Read, co-director of the Climate Majority Project and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, was the conference’s keynote speaker. He said: “Any spirituality or religion that is not engaged with the real world is an evasion, a distraction, a fail. Climate breakdown shows that real spirituality today must be engaged, must be eco-logical”. He challenged Christians to a revival, asking “What will you do to make meaning out of our tragic contemporary predicament?”. He urged churches to give “existential leadership” in this time of crisis and use their “pastoral and preaching voice” drawing on the stories and resources of the Christian faith.
The day was chaired by Melanie Nazareth, Green Christian Churches Officer, with Jo Chamberlain and Adrian Fox, national officers for the Church of England Environment Programme, sharing their leading-edge work preparing congregations for climate resilience. Bringing perspectives from pastoral care and mission was pioneer priest Revd Vanessa Elston.
Working groups then addressed the question “Climate breakdown is happening. What can churches do to help their communities prepare for what’s coming?”, and identified the following actions churches should take in public leadership, building social resilience, provoking discernment and serving local communities:
- Give truthful, creation-led learning, leadership and worship – learning from others and aspiring to be prophetic in the present crisis
- Be a good friend and neighbour – exploring ecospirituality with hospitality, hope and care, and offering a living oasis to support everyone through good times and bad
- Become catalysts, hosts and convenors – collaborating with MPs, councillors, agencies and people of all faith backgrounds for prayer, learning and resilience planning
- Open wide our churches – creating interconnected hubs which signpost activities, resources and ways of developing practical and spiritual resilience
—- ENDS —-
Notes to the editor:
- A summary of the conference theme: https://greenchristian.org.uk/2025-annual-members-meeting/
- Aviva insurance warning: https://www.aviva.com/newsroom/news-releases/2025/10/uks-iconic-landmarks-at-risk-from-climate-change-by-2050-according-to-new-report/
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