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Environmental responsibility of religious organizations (on the example of the State Christian Church of England)
 
PIIS221979310019588-9-1
DOI10.37490/S221979310019588-9
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Anna A. Yankovskaya 
Occupation: Associate Professor, Department of Regional Economics and Natural Resource Management
Affiliation: Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics
Address: Russian Federation, St.-Petersburg
Olga A. Balabeykina
Occupation: Associate Professor, Department of Regional Economics and Natural Resource Management
Affiliation: Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics
Address: Russian Federation, St.-Petersburg
Occupation: Senior Lecturer of Media Linguistics department
Affiliation: Saint-Petersburg State University
Address: Russian Federation, St.-Petersburg
Journal namePskov Journal of Regional Studies
EditionVolume 18. No2/2022
Pages65-79
Abstract

Examples of the implementation of the concept of social and environmental responsibility by foreign religious institutions allow us to conclude that there are successfully functioning models for the implementation of this type of activity. The purpose of the article is to present an analysis of the implementation of environmental responsibility on the example of the structural unit of the regional level of the State Christian Church of England. The object of the study is the diocese of Canterbury, which has the necessary characteristics and takes an active part in solving environmental problems. In addition to the methods of analysis and synthesis of information, the calculated coefficient of territorial concentration was used to reflect the degree of uniformity in the distribution of church parishes across the territory of the archdiocese, and the accessibility for the population of events organized on their basis, including environmental issues. The results of the analysis of the model of actively implemented environmental activities by a religious organization at the regional level, using data reflecting both the list of activities and its financial component, as well as the method for calculating the territorial concentration coefficient in relation to the parish infrastructure, can be used in developing a strategy for cooperation between the state and the Church in the designated area.

Keywordsenvironmental responsibility, religious institution environmental activity, the diocese of Canterbury, the concept of sustainable development
Received07.04.2022
Publication date22.06.2022
Number of characters24422
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1 Introduction. The State Christian Churches are still remaining significant socio-cultural institutional structures at the current stage of European society development. Their activities and value paradigms largely determine the behavior of native population representatives. Despite some outlined secularization tendencies, Christian Churches continue to play a prominent part in social, economical and political processes.
2 It is no coincidence that in 2008, Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, declared the idea of necessity for involvement of religious organizations in the process of implementing the fundamentals of the concept of sustainable development (CSD), which was soon applied [14].
3 Since CSD is targeted at achieving the balance of socio-economic goals, as well as qualitative and quantitative attributes of environmental preservation, the major role of CSD is assigned to environmental responsibility. It should also be stated that fostering solutions to environmental and conservational problems is explicitly declared in seven out of seventeen goals of CSD1. The involvement of religious organizations in the process of achieving mentioned above goals makes it relevant to identify the main trends related to the implementation of environmental responsibility by church structures. 1. Sustainable development goals. URL: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ru/sustainable-development-goals/ (accessed: 15.10.2020).
4 Several decades ago, representatives of the largest Christian religious institutions declared their willingness to participate in environmental protection measures. Thus, Pope John Paul II, being the head of the Catholic Church from 1978 until 2005, in his Official Message for the Celebration of the Day of Peace in the year 1990 mentioned the necessities to solve problems, caused by environmental crisis, and emphasized the universe of responsibility for everything that had happened2. 2. Roman Catholic Church (The Holy See) on the Environment. URL: >>>> (accessed: 15.10.2020).
5 If in the vast majority of European countries church-state issues, evolving significant changes, are in the nature of productive collaboration, then in modern Russia they are at the formation stage after the extending period of Soviet ideological atheism. But recently, in national practice there have been some trends, aimed at interaction in the field of implementing social responsibility by religious organizations. This is reflected in the content of scientific papers [4] and on the official websites of church structures3. 3. Representatives of the Luga Deanery encourage parishioners to refuse plastic items as a potentially dangerous environmental pollutant. See: “Otkazatsya ot plastika” // Official site of Luga Deanery. URL: >>>> (accessed: 14.10.2021).
6 Since environmental responsibility is a significant part of social responsibility, both representatives of Russian religious hierarchy and authorities at the domestic and regional levels can benefit from the experience of foreign Christian religious institutions in this area. The National Church of England, which has been successfully functioning in this direction at regional and local levels for decades, can serve as a representative sample.
7 The present study aimed at presenting the model of balanced successful implementation of environmental responsibility by religious Christian institutions using the example of Canterbury Diocese.
8 Literature overview. Issues, related to the social responsibility of religious organizations, align with the goals of the CSD. They have been repeatedly covered in academic literature, being reflected in national [2; 4; 22; 30] and foreign studies [1; 19; 27; 28; 32; 36], including monographs [21]. However, Church’s responsibility to the environment has rarely been a subject of independent [10–12; 15; 23; 29; 35].
9 Probably, the reason lies in the fact that the environmental footprint of religious institutions is minimal, and Christian doctrine determines direct assistance to the needy as a matter of priority of social activity. Therefore, the emphasis in research articles, where the socio-economic role of religious institutions is reflected and analyzed, is placed to the benefit of the help to those in need. And yet, researchers consistently paid attention to studies that reflected the great significance of the Christian faith in the formation of environmental consciousness and responsibility [13; 30]. This issue was also considered in retrospect [20]. It should be noted that as a response to the necessity for scientific understanding of the problems, caused by the impact on natural and environmental component of religious tourism, studies of foreign researches related to the designated narrow topic has appeared in recent years [7–9; 16–18; 24–26; 31; 33; 34]. But at the current stage, an integrated approach to the study of making arrangements activities of religious institutions in the field of environmental responsibility remains without due attention of researchers.
10 Methodology and material. The main source of empirical data was the information contained in the Church of England’s diocesan reports, published in the public access. Data related to the implementation of environmental responsibility was extracted from the reports and analyzed.
11 Apart from analysis methods and synthesizing the information, traditional methods for processing of statistical data were used. These include calculation of spatial index concentration for parishes of Canterbury Archdiocese, as the principal agents, in which activities related to church projects in the field of environmental responsibility are implemented.

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