Did you know that the Church of Sweden has its own climate roadmap?

And it’s ready to begin the second stage of this sustainable strategy

The Church of Sweden aims to be climate neutral by 2030. That’s the end goal of a roadmap, which was adopted and initiated three years ago by the authorities of the main religious denomination in the Nordic Country.

The roadmap is divided into three stages, and the Church has now decided on goals for the second stage. It takes a broader approach to several of the climate challenges and sharpens the ambition of the religious institution.

Like any organization, the Church of Sweden has different assets and provides services and operations, all of which can be decarbonized if the will is there. The three axes of that approach include the reduction of Church-owned vehicles’ emissions and the improvement of energy efficiencies of its buildings, such as the temples, striving to educate sustainable values among its followers, and fighting for and promoting climate justice.

“The goals are challenging but are necessary and involve a substantial movement towards becoming climate neutral,” says Wanja Lundby-Wedin, first vice-chairman of the church board. “The roadmap basically covers all activities, and everyone needs to contribute based on their circumstances.”

Religion adjusting to the values of today

It should perhaps come as no surprise that in a sustainability-conscious society, such as the Swedish, even the local church, normally an institution seen as resistant to change would go with the flow and adapt to the new realities and update its mission.

These, for example, are the goals set out for the second stage of the roadmap. They show the complexity and attention to detail that a national organization, even a community and services-oriented one, such as a church, has to consider:

• The mission of the church
• Energy use and buildings
• Production of renewable electricity
• Travel and transport
• Cemeteries, ground facilities and machinery
• Consumption and investment
• Climate adaptation and crisis preparedness
• Forest and land management

In 2018, the church meeting gave the church board the task of developing a nationally comprehensive program (roadmap) for climate strategy, which should be able to be implemented in all 13 dioceses within the Church of Sweden. You can see a short animation video about this roadmap here (available also with English subtitles).