[Church of England] The General Synod of the Church of England has overwhelmingly welcomed the new climate change policy adopted by the church’s investing bodies.

Speaking during a July 13 afternoon debate, titled “Climate Change and Investment Policy,” Bishop of Manchester David Walker said: “Climate change calls for an urgent response from all of us – individually, institutionally, nationally and internationally. And that includes investors. The question is not whether climate change is an important and urgent ethical investment issue, but how to reflect this importance and urgency in ethical investment policy.”

Talking about the new climate change policy implemented since May 1 on the recommendation from the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group, Walker said: “The EIAG develops policies formed by biblical understanding, theological reflection and an appreciation of the views of the church. These policies are, without exception, extraordinarily well considered and distinctly Anglican. They are practical for institutional investors with fiduciary responsibilities.

The new policy has already been welcomed from both within and outside the church. Bishop of Salisbury Nicholas Holtam called the policy “exemplary.” Nick Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, has praised the investing bodies’ “fine and wise leadership.” Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, has said the policy is “expressive of investor integrity.”

Read further commentary on the debate from the Bishop of Manchester on the Church of England website.