The Church of England pledged on Monday to step up efforts to compensate for its historical links to slavery after a new report called for a tenfold increase in funding to $1.27 billion.

In January 2023, the global Anglican Mother Church’s funding body pledged to invest £100 million ($127 million) over nine years to support communities affected by slavery.

Church commissioners acknowledged that the fund was originally financed by an investment in an 18th-century company involved in the African slave trade.

Experts advising the church on the initiative concluded on Monday that the financial commitment was “insufficient” to achieve “real justice, reparation and healing.”

It recommended setting a new target of £1 billion.

Gareth Mostyn, chief executive and secretary of Church Commissioners, said in the news: “We want others to join us and invest with us, through our investment, through the co-investment of others and through the returns Growth Investment Fund.” The meeting reacted to the report.

“We are hopeful that the fund will be on track to grow to $1 billion or more and create a lasting positive legacy.”

Church commissioners, who manage more than £10bn of investment funds to support church and clergy activities, have pledged to raise a planned £100m over five years instead of nine.

The funding will fund programs designed to support disadvantaged Black communities as well as entrepreneurs, researchers, doctors, teachers and others.

The church will also encourage other British institutions with a history of the slave trade to take responsibility.

Bishop Rosemary Mallett of Croydon said: “We recognize that the Church of England is deeply embedded in the heart of this nation’s institutions.”

“We recognize that our intentional responsibility is to do what we can do and really hope that by doing what we can do, others will follow our example.”

The Church of England has apologized for its historical links to slavery as Britain confronts the legacy of its colonial past.

In 2020, it described the fact that some members had “actively profited” from slavery as a “source of shame”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)