Archbishop of Canterbury says Church is keeping 'skin in the game' with fossil fuel investments to encourage change

The Archbishop of Canterbury said the Church of England is keeping “skin in the game” with fossil fuel investments to drive climate justice, as he urged world leaders meeting in Glasgow for Cop26 to take bolder action.

Justin Welby warned that a failure to manage climate change risked creating conflict around the world.

Asked what his message to delegates meeting for the summit would be, Dr Welby said: “Be bolder, be more generous, be just to the poorest.

“Make it work, it’s in all our interests and the world is behind you making it work. Don’t lose your nerve.”

Christian teaching tells people to protect the Earth

Asked if the Church of England was doing enough on fossil fuel investment, Dr Welby said: "It is much better to stay invested with skin in the game and talking to people and then to change the way they are acting, than it is to walk away completely and have no voice that can be heard.

"But we will absolutely walk away from companies that are not moving."

Christian teaching on people’s role as trustees of the Earth and to “love thy neighbour” have also made climate change an important issue for the Church, he said.

The Church of England has divested from coal companies, and by 2023 it will end investment in oil and gas companies that are not intent on zero emissions.

Watch: Archbishop of Canterbury calls on world leaders to 'be bolder' in climate change fight

Dr Welby, who worked in the oil industry before being ordained, said that the era of fossil fuels was, and must be, coming to an end.

A transition from fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - to renewable energy was fast approaching, he added, with the move needed to “be done with justice for the whole world” at “every level of income, not just those who can afford higher electricity and gas bills”.

The archbishop said he agreed with the Queen’s alleged comments that it was “irritating” when world leaders talked about climate change but failed to act.

World leaders gathering for the UN climate conference are under pressure to commit to meaningful climate action goals, such as limiting temperature rises to 1.5C and to deliver climate finance to the world’s poorest countries.

Climate change risks causing conflicts around the world

Dr Welby said that climate change was an increasingly important factor in destabilising societies and causing people to move.

"We're increasingly finding that when you analyse the conflicts in which we are trying to help you see lurking somewhere in there, climate change, as a growing factor, not the only one, but an important one."

Although many people feel the scale of the challenge is too big for them to address, the archbishop urged them to look at the opportunities to make the world greener.

He said: "We can make a difference, it's a personal responsibility before God and before each other, and even in purely secular terms, it's a personal responsibility before the generations yet to come.

"We've got to move to a society that believes more in community and supporting one another.

"And in doing that, we will find our fears can be more easily faced and dealt with. But I do really understand that sense of 'I can't do anything', but we can and let's try."

Watch: The politics of climate change