Rewild the Church Open Letter
to The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE,
Archbishop of Canterbury – Designate
To The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE (Archbishop of Canterbury – Designate)
Firstly, may we offer our heartfelt congratulations on your appointment to the role of Archbishop of Canterbury and wish you a time of fulfilment and mission in the years ahead.
As the natural world freefalls and the climate crisis accelerates, many of us feel powerless to respond. Yet today, as you step into one of the most spiritually significant roles in the country, you take up a rare responsibility – one with the power to lead real change.
The Church of England has a unique opportunity to take action to combat the devastating decline of our natural world, not just as a moral voice, but as one of the country’s top 10 largest landowners.
The Church of England’s investment body, the Church Commissioners, owns over 100,000 acres of land across the UK – land that, unfortunately, is largely in poor ecological condition. While some promising steps are being taken, ambition must be far greater and action more urgent. England is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and the nation desperately needs the Church to lead by example to halt this decline.
We urge you to publicly call for a commitment by the Church Commissioners to protect 30% of their land for nature by 2030, in line with the global target adopted by the UK Government and over 190 nations. This target is a historic national undertaking; it will not be achieved without the Church’s support.
As Archbishop, your leadership will set the tone not only for the Church but for the country. Does nature truly matter to us as a nation? You have a huge part to play in deciding this. A bold commitment to protect all things great and small will send a powerful message of hope and responsibility, one rooted in faith, justice, and care for future generations.
We are not alone in our appeal to you. Over 105,000 people, including Christians across the country, have signed a petition backing the call for the Church to practice what it preaches and help protect and restore nature.
We urge you to seize this moment and make protecting the natural world a defining mission of your tenure.
SIGNED BY
Wild Card
Dr. Rowan Williams, Former Archbishop of Canterbury
Chris Packham CBE, Broadcaster and Activist
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Author, Chef and Broadcaster
Sir Robert T Watson, FRS, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Faith for the Climate
Prof Dame Athene Donald, DBE FRS, Professor Emerita University of Cambridge
Sir Partha Dasgupta GBE FBA FRS, Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge
Prof Nathalie Pettorelli OBE, University College London, UK
Prof Alistair Jump, Dean of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling
Prof Paul Ekins, Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources
Prof Alastair McIntosh, Author of Soil and Soul and Poacher’s Pilgrimage.
Prof Caroline Lear, Professor of Past Climates and Earth System Change, Cardiff University
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, Green Party member in the House of Lords
Guy Shrubsole, Campaigner and author of The Lie of the Land and The Lost Rainforests of Britain
Dr. John Philip Newell, Author of Spirituality and and Celtic teacher
Prof. David Clough, Chair in Theology and Applied Sciences, University of Aberdeen
Sir Stephen Fry, Broadcaster, Actor and Writer
Christian Climate Action
Caroline Lucas, Former leader of the Green Party
Baroness Bryony Worthington, Life Peer
Rev’d Dr Carrie Grant MBE
Youngwilders
Rev Luke Dowding, CEO OneBodyOneFaith
Rev David R Mayne, Regional Minister Team Leader, Eastern Baptist Association
Rev Tim Presswood, Regional Minister for Church Life, North Western Baptist Church and former President of Baptist Union of Great Britain
Nadia Shaikh and Jon Moses, Co-directors of Right to Roam
Joycelyn Longdon, Environmental justice technologist and author of Natural Connection
Edmund de Waal CBE, Ceramicist and author of The Hare with Amber Eyes
Jonathon Porritt, Author and campaigner
Chantal Lyons, Science Communicator and author of Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain’s Wild Boar’
Prof Tom Oliver, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research (Environment), University of Reading
Green Christian
Zack Polanski AM, Leader of the Green Party
Zero Hour
Prof Dr Sir Richard Roberts, Nobel Laureate 1993 (Physiology or Medicine)
George Monbiot, Columnist and Campaigner
Parents for Future UK
Bill McGuire, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at UCL, Activist, Author and Campaigner
Prof Ioan Fazey, Professor of Social Dimensions of Environment and Change, University of York
Julia Hailes, Sustainability pioneer and environmental campaigner
Prof Pete Smith, FRS, FRSE, FNA, FEurASc, FI Soil Sci., FRSB, Professor of Soils & Global Change, University of Aberdeen
Prof Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology, University of Sussex
Prof David Burslem, Interdisciplinary Institute Director – Environment & Biodiversity, University of Aberdeen
Prof Joseph Tobias, Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Imperial College London
Dr Peter J. Atkins, Postdoctoral Fellow in Old Testament and Hebrew Bible, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
Prof Nicola Clayton FRS, Professor of Comparative Psychology, University of Cambridge
Rev Canon Nick Atkins, Rector of the Parish of St Matthew’s, All Saints, Triangle and Bridge churches, Ipswich