The Church of England will step up its environmental programme in response to the escalating threat of climate change, its General Synod voted today.

A motion brought by the dioceses of London and Truro was approved, committing the Church to accelerating its existing environmental programme and calling on every diocese to put in place an environmental programme overseen by a designated member of the bishop's staff team.

The possibility of a standard tool to monitor CO2 emissions in churches, cathedrals and church halls will also be explored.

The Bishop of Truro, Philip Mounstephen, introduced the motion, saying: 'Climate change cannot be a matter of indifference for any of us and we cannot underestimate the seriousness of this.

'Behind this motion is a fundamental desire to see us, as a church, recover our prophetic edge.

'For that to happen I believe we need prophetic people to stir us up.'

The motion, originally debated and amended in July 2018, was moved by Enid Barron. 'This is a good news headline for the Church and I encourage Synod to vote strongly in favour of the motion,' she said.

'When we meet with our brothers and sisters from the Lambeth Conference next year, we need to be able to say, "We've heard your pain and we're doing all that we can, with God's help, to make a difference."'

The motion was passed overwhelmingly, with 279 in favour, three against and four abstentions.