Environmental and Economic Sustainability

We want environmental protection and economic development to go hand in hand

We believe that we need to live differently with others and with our planet, sharing more abundantly and more generously, and treading more lightly on the earth. We need to recognise that creation is an abundant community of which we’re a part of, and our interaction with the environment must be motivated by love, not dominion.

Based on these beliefs, elaborated on in our theology of abundant community, we collaborate with churches and communities worldwide to address climate and environmental challenges which humans have often caused. Our Environmental and Economic Sustainability (EES) work focuses on ensuring environmental protection and economic development go hand in hand, helping communities, especially young people, create green jobs and build stronger, more sustainable livelihoods.

We work with theology schools and church networks, mobilising people to advocate for policy changes locally and globally, while at the same time developing practical solutions with churches and communities. These include: waste management, climate-smart agriculture and renewable energy at household and community levels.

We want to be accountable about our own environmental impact and strive to reduce it. This includes cutting the number of flights our staff take, reducing waste at our offices and events, and using more environmentally friendly logistic operators and transportation in our emergency responses.

What we learnt

Long-term behaviour change at individual, community and government level is most likely when advocacy, influencing and movement-building are integrated into project activities. CCT has proved an effective foundation for EES projects, including in fragile settings, and savings groups play a key complementary role in achieving strong outcomes. In turn, EES projects can build strong community groups from which self-help groups arise.

We know we can go further

Although we saw some campaign wins at COP27, we need to continue to keep up the pressure for climate justice. We also need to build on the success of our advocacy on waste, capitalising on the unique opportunity presented by the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations.

We want to do more to create green jobs in agriculture and other sectors through contextually appropriate entrepreneurship models.

Going forward in 2023/24 We aim to:

• introduce our abundant community theology into more theological colleges and other influential church spaces
• seek to influence the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations through our Rubbish Campaign
• deliver projects in 20 countries to build restorative economies and resilience in the face of future climate and environmental crises