In a world when not a day goes by without us being told how the environment is at risk by our own doing, flying to Australia will indeed leave us with a large carbon footprint.

The distance from London Gatwick to Sydney is 17,020 KM, on our journey we shall be releasing an estimated 776.7 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere, compared to if 72 of us had flown to Cologne for the 2005 World Youth Day which comes out at as 31.6 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide over a distant of 500 KM.

This does not mean however that there is any need for us to cancel our trip to World Youth Day. As it was Pope John Paul II who as early as 2001 called upon the Church to support the ‘ecological conversion (that) has made humanity more sensitive to the catastrophe to which it has been heading’

The late Pope also said ‘An education in ecological responsibility is urgent’. So it is clear that the Church fully understands the actions that we have on the planet and it is doing something about it.

In 2007 the Vatican City became the first totally carbon neutral sovereign state in the world.  With an agreement with Planktos/KlimaFa the Hungarian eco-restoration firm, the Vatican City has helped to replant an entire forest in Hungry to offset the carbon footprint of the Holy See.

World Youth Day has set up a footprint programme to help offset the carbon produced. The programme asks each pilgrim to donate $5 on top of their registration fee. This $5 will go towards a New Zealand pilgrim carbon offsetting project.

If 5,000 pilgrims donate, a total of $25,000 will be raised allowing the organisers to carry out environmental programmes across New Zealand and Nepal.

But the small things can also help. Carry a bottle of water round with you daily, and fill it up when needs be, instead of buying a new bottle every time. You’ll save money and reduce your waste. Carry a bag around with you instead of using plastic bags for shopping; you may well need a bag to carry your camera and those 100 Brentwood key rings anyway so why use extra plastic bags from the shops?

As Catholics we have been called upon by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II to help protect the planet, God’s own creation. At a Vatican conference on climate change in 2007 the Pope asked us to ‘respect creation’ while "focusing on the needs of sustainable development".