82 83 CHANC/GE Shortly after his election, Bishop Michael Chalupka emphasised the role that the Church plays in relation to the preservation of creation: "It is not enough as the Protestant Church to remind and admonish, rather it is up to the leadership of the parishes to take decisive steps. We have only borrowed this world from our children and grandchildren." In line with this responsibility to take active course of action, the Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession and the Helvetic Confession set up a climate protection concept project team, which will develop a climate protection concept by the end of 2023 as well as compile a practical booklet called “Chanc/ge. the journey to becoming a sustainable parish.” The work of the project team is being carried out in coordination with the Protestant Environmental Officers and the Commission for World Mission and Global Responsibility and aims to set the church on a path towards CO2 reduction. The four subject areas in focus are "Buildings and Energy", "Mobility", "Procurement" and "Awareness-raising". In November 2020, the project team proposed the goal of climate neutrality by 2040 and the corresponding milestones, which were subsequently adopted by the Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession and the Helvetic Confession. As an important step towards a climate protection concept, the project team sent out a questionnaire to all Protestant parishes in May 2020 to collect current building and energy consumption data. The results will be used to calculate the current CO2 emissions of the parishes and draw conclusions for further climate protection work. Among other things, the questionnaire analyses the existing buildings, electricity and heat consumption of the past two years, past and upcoming refurbishment measures and matters of concern. Even if this step initially demands commitment and time from the parish communities, the data from the questionnaire is very important. On the one hand, because the calculation of CO2 emissions makes it possible to quantitatively assess climate protection measures, and on the other hand it is the only way to develop a climate protection concept that is geared towards the reality of the parishes. The climate protection concept project team also wants to start implementing climate protection measures as quickly as possible. This requires many meetings and discussions with internal and external persons, such as the Protestant environmental commissioners or the project partner klimaaktiv, the Federal Association Photovoltaics Austria, the energy advice centres of the federal states and Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler. The latter discussions serve to make the church's commitment to climate protection visible and to show what role model effect the Protestant Church would like to have. In addition, the "Year of Creation", which begins on the first Sunday in Advent 2021, is intended to raise awareness of our responsibility for creation and encourage climate protection activities. Together with the Protestant members, this should create further momentum for climate protection within our church and beyond. Climate protection commitment of the Protestant Church in: 'Amt und Gemeinde' (70th edition, issue 1, 2021). Marie-Christine Mattner MSc., Climate Protection Officer, Department of Church Development, Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria https://evang.at/projekte/umwelt-und-klimaschutz klimaschutz@evang.at 1.12.2021 Goals > Global target: > 2040 Climate neutrality of the church > Milestones until 2023 > Climate protection concept including CO2 reduction pathway > Energy accounting (data acquisition) > Switch to 100% green electricity > Energy counselling in 50% of parishes > Theological awareness > Replacing oil heating systems in a climate-friendly way
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