About the Anglican Communion Environmental Network

Anglicans have long been concerned with environmental issues. ACC-6 stated that the fifth mark of mission was, "To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the earth. In many parts of the world local Anglican Churches have given leadership:

  • by being advocates for responsible environmental stewardship
  • by providing support and leadership to local initiatives to protect the environment
  • by seeking to educate Anglicans as individuals and as communities to become better stewards of creation.

In 1998 the bishops gathered at Lambeth expressed their concern that efforts to address such issues be given greater visibility and be better coordinated across the Anglican Communion. The Network is an attempt to do just that. After some initial work following ACC-11 in Dundee (1999), the Network received recognition as an official network of the Anglican Communion at ACC-12 in Hong Kong (2002). Our aim is:

  • To encourage Anglicans to support sustainable environmental practices as individuals and in the life of their communities.
  • To provide information about policies embraced by synods, councils and commissions, and especially by the instruments of Unity (Statements by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Resolutions and Reports of the Lambeth Conference and the Anglican Consultative Council) 
  • To support local initiatives by providing information about ideas and best practices developed around the communion.
  • To share information about resources and initiatives that may be of value to Anglicans everywhere.
  • To provide an opportunity for interested Anglicans to meet both as a formal network, and informally via electronic media.
  • Lifting up the voices of women and youth and telling their stories.

Steering Committee Members: 

  • Patron: The Most Revd and Rt Honourable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Chair: The Most Revd Julio Murray Thompson, Bishop of Panama, Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America (IARCA)
  • Coordinator: Revd Canon Dr Rachel Mash, Anglican Church of Southern Africa 
  • Secretary: Very Revd Ken Gray, Anglican Church of Canada
  • The Revd Melanie Mullen – The Episcopal Church (North America Region)
  • Mr Casper S Supa – The Anglican Church of Melanesia (Oceania Region)
  • The Rt Revd Bertin Mwale Subi, Bishop of Katanga, Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo (Africa Region)
  • Dr Matthew Koshy Punnackadu, The Church of South India (South Asia Region)
  • The Revd Clive Thomas, Diocese of Barbados, The Church in the Province of the West Indies (Latin America and the Caribbean Region)
  • Ms Jo Chamberlain, The Church of England  (Europe Region)
  • Dr Elizabeth Perry, Anglican Alliance

Anglican Communion Office Liaison Director:
Martha Jarvis, Anglican Communion Permanent Representative to the United Nations