General Synod has called upon all parts of the Church of England to work to achieve year-on-year reductions in carbon emissions in order to reach net zero by 2030. Where can churches committed to the care of God’s Creation begin? 

This short film, produced by the Church of England and featuring Manchester Cathedral and Christ Church Brunswick, provides inspiration and encouragement as we work towards Net Zero Carbon by 2030.

Energy Footprint Tool

The user-friendly online tool calculates your church’s carbon footprint based on the energy used to heat and light your buildings. The Energy Footprint Tool (EFT) was developed to collect data and help churches assess their environmental impact. Filling in the EFT should take less than an hour, and the results will be invaluable in helping churches launch carbon-reducing projects and will support applications for grant funding. 

What do I have to do?

Simply gather together your energy bills from the previous year and enter your church’s energy use figures into the online survey. This includes your actual energy consumption, as well as costs – you can find all this information on your bills.

Once you have entered all the data, you will immediately receive a report and results on your computer or smartphone. This includes the church’s carbon footprint in CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) and how this has changed in recent years.

EFT updates

The EFT was recently updated to reflect feedback from users and to help the Church of England better understand all the buildings we own or use.

Key updates:

• New questions have been added to find out about all the buildings in your parish.  A new online building scope checker tool can help you determine which of these buildings you need to report on and what information you need to provide for each.
• Upon completing the survey, a report shows you the total carbon emissions for your parish and the carbon emissions for each building you have reported energy use data for.
• The list of approved green tariffs is changing. This has impacted whether the EFT will automatically offset some of your carbon emissions when you select a particular supplier. Look out for an extensive list of approved green energy suppliers later in the year – the Church of England has appointed specialist consultants to work on this.
• You no longer need to enter work-related travel expenses.
• EFT submissions for 2024 closed in June 2025, to give more time to analyse the data and share the results back in time for diocesan synods in the autumn.

What do I need to get started?

When it comes to submitting your next EFT, you will need your utility bills for all your church or parish buildings for 2025: electricity, gas, oil, or whichever other fuel you use.  If you have solar panels, find information on their generation over the preceding year. 

Before you start collecting energy use data for your buildings, you need to determine whether a building is ‘in scope’. This online building scope checker tool will help you work this out. But essentially, if a building is not owned by the Church of England then you do not need to report on the building.

The EFT can be found on the online Parish Returns system.

If you need help accessing this system please contact:

This new film explains how to complete the Energy Footprint Tool.

Taking your first steps towards Net Zero Carbon 

You will find some practical suggestions to reduce the carbon footprint of your church building on the Church of England’s website:

Green Tariffs

Do you want to switch to a green tariff but are confused by the options? The National Church of England Environment Team has created the above animation and a simple guide to explain more about green tariffs and how to choose the best one in line with your Christian values and beliefs.

The Great Switch

Have you pledged to make the Great Switch? By taking this small but impactful step towards our net-zero mission, your church will reduce its environmental impact. The National Church of England Environment Team has conducted research into energy suppliers, so you have all the information you need to switch your supplier. Find out more here.

Funding for Eco Boilers 

The new Boiler Replacement Hardship Grant Fund is designed to help churches and church halls with limited budgets, by offering grants of up to 45k to cover the difference in cost between a low-carbon heating system and an oil or gas heating system.

The fund is from the Church of England’s Net Zero by 2030 programme, which aims to equip, resource and support all parts of the church to tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions from the energy used in its buildings, schools and work-related transport. ​

This document explains more about the scheme and how to apply:

If you would like any help, please contact: