The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has appointed Paula Clifford on a six month secondment from Christian Aid to help further the Church of England's quest for sustainable solutions to climate change.

The appointment follows on from the launch of the Church of England's "Shrinking the Footprint" initiative.

Clifford has been at Christian Aid for nine years and has travelled extensively in the developing world, seeing the effects of climate change first hand, and has recently published a paper entitled "All creation groaning: a theological approach to climate change".

She said: "I am delighted that the Archbishop and the Church of England are showing their deep concern for the effects of climate change on the world's poorest people in this way.

"I am very much looking forward to working with them in highlighting the wider issues of poverty and injustice and in helping to inspire a real movement for change."

Clifford is a Reader in the Oxford Diocese, and has written books on a variety of topics, as well as being a theatre critic for the Oxford Times.