Energy Footprint Tool

The Parish Returns Portal has now closed for the Energy Footprint Tool 2024 returns.

Good news! There is still time for you to complete your returns using a different method.

How do I complete my return?

You still have a limited amount of time to complete your EFT returns. If you would like to do this, please complete this word document and return to Joanna Ormston via email on: environment@peterborough-diocese.org.uk. If you do not have email, you can also post your return to: Joanna Ormston, The Diocese of Peterborough, Unit 1 Bouverie Court, The Lakes, Northampton, NN4 7YD.

On receiving your form, Joanna will then input your church's information into the parish returns portal and will send you a pdf of your church report.

Please note the final deadline is Monday 28th July 2025.

Why complete the Energy Footprint Tool?

The Church of England's General Synod voted in February 2020 for the whole of the Church to achieve net zero carbon by 2030. The vote recognised that responding to the climate crisis is an essential part of our responsibility to safeguard God's creation and achieve a just world.

The Net Zero by 2030 programme was then established and as part of this, the EFT has been created to collect data to establish a baseline and help churches locally find out their carbon footprint.

Other reasons to complete your EFT returns include:

Increasingly the results are important, as their completion is often a condition of funding and grants.
The EFT is a free-to-use tool that enables parishes to measure their annual carbon emmisions for churches, halls and other parish buildings.
The results help you understand your journey to net zero, as well as helping the Diocesan teams in their approach to your parish needs.

All in all - it is a worth taking the time to complete these returns each year.

What's new this year?

New questions have been added to find out about all the buildings within your parish.
When you have finished your survey, you will now see a report which shows the total carbon emissions for your parish and the carbon emissions for each building you have reported energy use data for.
The list of approved green tariffs is changing. This has impacted whether the EFT will automatically offset some of your carbon emissions when you select a particular supplier. Look out for an extensive list of approved green energy suppliers later in the year.
You don't need to enter work-related travel expenses this year.
The EFT is closing earlier this year to give more time to analyse the data and share the results before Diocesan Synods in the Autumn.

Who completes the Energy Footprint Tool returns?

Communication for the EFT is sent to Incumbents, Treasurers and Churchwardens. However, the returns can be completed by anyone within the church family.

We recommend that you assign a member of your church family to take responsibility for completing these restuns by the deadline on 30th June 2025.

What information do I need to start?

To complete the form you will need:

Your energy bills for 2024
Your building usage for 2024

If you have solar panels, please find information on their generation for 2024 before you begin.