Eco Group

During COP26 the Eco Group produced five Climate Challenges: lots of ideas, big and small, global and local, about how individuals and groups can respond to the challenge and make changes in their lives. The challenges cover food, transport, lifestyle, gardening, and energy. Read about the background to the challenges and the differences they can make.
Download the Challenges and have a go!

St Paul’s Eco Group aims to help protect and restore the natural world through actions and projects caring for the environment with St Paul’s Cathedral and the Cathedral congregation. It is open to anyone interested in a Christian approach to environmental issues in Dundee or the Diocese of Brechin. The Eco Group meets monthly, currently by Zoom.

In 2021, Glasgow hosted the UN Climate Conference (COP26). Scottish churches and faith groups, including the Scottish Episcopal Church, made a commitment to respond to the challenge of climate change by

  • reflecting deeply in prayer, meditation and worship to discern how to care for the earth and each other, and to encourage our communities to do the same;
  • making transformational change in our own lives and in the lives of our communities through individual and collect action;
  • being advocates for justice by calling on governments, businesses and others who exercise power and influence to put into effect the Paris agreement; to make the transition to a just and green economy a priority; and to commit to science-based targets that are aligned with a healthy, resilient, zero-emissions future.

In St Paul’s Eco Group we work together to see how we can best help with these challenges, both in the Cathedral and in linking in with other local and national networks: Dundee Climate Action Network, Tayside COP26 Climate Coalition, Interfaith Scotland, and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland. The Cathedral is a member of EcoCongregation Scotland.

The Scottish Episcopal Church has an action plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and the Cathedral is working towards that goal. We see environmental and ecological issues as being central to life in the Cathedral as well as to our personal lives. Activities have ranged from toilet twinning to a major lighting project that saw the installation of an energy-efficient lighting system in the Cathedral, with a major grant from the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund; this was linked with an energy-saving challenge for members of the congregation, raising awareness of climate change and ways to take action.

We hope you will join in conversations, prayer and in practical ways and will provide suggestions for you to try. If you’re interested in joining the group or coming along to a meeting, contact Julie or look out for updates in The Rock.