A post script to my blog, Total Disbelief, one year on.
To our joy, and without needing a petition, after all, Parish Buying, the churches’ bulk-buying scheme has nowterminated its dealings with Total Energies and adopted two new partners for its Parish Energy scheme: Ecotricity for electricity, and Corona for gas. For more information see https://parishbuying.org.uk/ where there is a short video explaining the new arrangement.
The decision was taken by an advisory group who made a rigorous analysis of the different energy suppliers. They considered four aspects of a supplier’s business:
1. Sourcing of energy for their green tariffs.
2. Environmental goals and sustainable behaviour.
3. Ethical and charitable behaviour.
4. Cost competitiveness, transparency and service feedback.
Ecotricity (https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/) came out on top for electricity, but they don’t supply non-domestic gas, and so Corona was their choice for gas. In fact, with the Church of England, the need for gas supply is going to be phased out over the next decade, while the demand for electricity will grow.
The Church of England, together with other denominations, is planning to achieve net zero carbon by 2030, the route map for this may be found at: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/RoutemapToNetZeroCarbonFinal.pdf
Under this, churches and cathedrals are required ‘ to develop net zero carbon action plans for completion by no later than 2027. These should include, as a minimum, low-carbon heating options to replace fossil-fuel heating at end-of-life, such as heat pumps or infra-red heating panels.’ (Routemapslide 19).
While there is much to be joyful about in the decision of Parish Buying to source green energy with integrity, Total Energies are continuing to build the East Africa Crude Oil pipeline. In June 2025, it was 60% complete. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Crude_Oil_Pipeline
And if you would like to join the campaign to resist this act of corporate colonialism please see:
Margaret Healey-Pollett
November 2025
Joy in Enough 