Uk: Christians start to explore the limits to growth
Nick Wyke
February 8, 2008

When Sir Christopher Wren built St Paul's Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London, he had no plans to make it carbon neutral. In fact, the great church was partly funded by a tax on coal.

More than 300 years later, the current incumbent, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, has plans to lighten the cathedral's ecological footprint. The 132nd Bishop of London has employed a team of postgraduates from Imperial College to carry out an energy audit on the London landmark.

As a result, cathedral staff are in the process of replacing light bulbs with low-energy alternatives and exploring ways in which St Paul's can contribute towards the Shrinking the Footprint campaign, an initiative by the Christian charity group Tearfund, which aims to cut 60 per cent of the Church's carbon emissions by 2050. the rest