To Romania by rail: a bishop's green example

Blessed are those who leave no carbon footprints - that has been the public view of the Bishop of London, and he has now lived up to his vow of not indulging in air travel for a year by declaring that he will take the train to Romania to attend a clerical conference.

It was unclear how many of the Church of England delegation would accompany the Rt Rev Richard Chartres on the 36-hour rail trip to Sibiu for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly next month.

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The bishop took a "gold" pledge not to fly anywhere for 12 months after pronouncing that flying was potentially a "symptom of sin".

His next family holiday, he said, would be in Devon. His office, however, had to cancel his attendance at a seminar in northern Norway because it would have been impossible to get there any other way than by air.

Dr Chartres has attracted some criticism for his stance. He was accused of environmental proselytising while riding around in a chauffeur-driven car.

His response was to get himself a Transport for London Oyster card. He promised that he would use public transport for personal journeys but that he needed to keep his car, a Skoda, as it is "unfortunately absolutely essential" for travelling between work appointments.

The Rev James Dobson, founder of the pressure group Focus on the Family, said the science on global warming was "inconclusive" and should not take a central part in the Christian agenda. A spokesman for the group claimed that environmental issues were "a distraction when families are falling apart and abortion continues as a great evil".

Dr Chartres defended his record on the environment. He said: "I have been trying to look critically at my carbon footprint. We all have to live responsibly. I can see myself spending a lot of time on draughty railway platforms.

"The year [of avoiding air travel] comes to an end at the beginning of November, but I don't resent it because it is a fast. There was a time when my wife and I were wondering about retirement and getting somewhere cheap in Spain, but I don't think I could do recreational flying now. I am considering ruling it out of my life once my experiment has finished."

In the meantime, he said, his principled stance had produced "all sorts of inconvenience for me".

He added: "I have said I wouldn't fly for a year and I have had to refuse a number of invitations. Unfortunately they have largely been ones from environmental organisations."