(Wuppertal, 4th July 2007, UEM) The United Evangelical Mission will, henceforth, make voluntary offset payments for the CO2 emissions resulting from flights taken by its staff in the course of their work.

The money, paid through the "FlugCare-Fund", will help pay for a climate protection project in the Philippines developing water power plants for the generation of electricity. The “FlugCare-Fund”is run by the "Information Agency" of the North Elbian Centre for World Mission and Church World Service (NMZ) in Hamburg.

This week, the UEM signed a contract committing itself to paying an annual lump sum of 15,000 euros into this fund. This amount corresponds to the one-off calculation of all CO2 emissions in tonnes (1,000 tonnes) resulting from business flights undertaken by UEM staff to Africa and Asia and from flights taken in connection with the work of UEM committees in the course of one year. This amounts to 15 euros per tonne of CO2 being paid into the fund.

The "Information Agency" of the North Elbian Centre for World Mission and Church World Service (NMZ) in Hamburg was founded in September 2005 with the intention of raising awareness of the global ecological and social impacts of ever-advancing climate change. Alongside its public relations work and the creation of educational material, the agency’s other working priority is the development of climate protection projects.

Further information on the climate protection project can be found at www.nmz-mission.de and www.

Thomas Sandner, UEM executive secretary for public relations
Phone (++49) 202-89004-134, info@vemission.org, www.vemission.org