Efforts to move environmental issues up the communal agenda have been outlined by the Board of Deputies.

In a report distributed to delegates at Sunday’s meeting in Central London, the board’s Environmental and Social Issues Action Group explained: “The intention is that green issues should become a major concern rather than a minor one as currently — and that the Jewish community should become green in practice as well as in theory.”

Letters are going out to communities urging them to become involved in local environmental initiatives. In Redbridge, for example, the council had contacted the board about its programme.

For its own part, the board needed to ensure that its offices “are as green as possible”.

Meanwhile, the Big Green Jewish website — a joint venture with the Noah Project — would be expanded thanks to a £2,900 grant from the Shoresh Charitable Trust. Expert help was being sought to improve the site.

“We are keen to publicise environmental initiatives taken within the Jewish community however large or small,” reported its editorial team co-ordinator, Denis Glaser.