LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The Church of England on Monday pledged to boost efforts to compensate for historical ties to slavery after a new report called for funding to be increased tenfold to US$1.27 billion.

In January 2023 the funding body of the mother church of global Anglicanism pledged to support communities affected by slavery with a £100 million (US$127 million) investment over nine years.

That followed an admission by the Church Commissioners that it was originally funded with investments in an 18th-century company involved in the African slave trade.

On Monday, experts advising the church on the initiative concluded that the financial commitment was “insufficient” for achieving “true justice, reparation, and healing”.

It recommended a new target of £1 billion.

“Our hope is that others will join us and invest alongside us… through our investment, through co-investment from others, and through the investment funds growing from returns,” Gareth Mostyn, chief executive and secretary of the Church Commissioners, told a news conference in reaction to the report.

“We hope that the fund will grow, hopefully to a billion and more, and create a lasting positive legacy.”

The Church Commissioners, which manage an investment fund of more than £10 billion to support the activities of the church and clergy, have committed to mobilising the planned £100 million within five years instead of nine.

The money will finance projects aimed at supporting disadvantaged black communities as well as entrepreneurs, researchers, doctors, teachers, and others.

The church will also encourage other British institutions with histories linked to slave trading to take responsibility.

“We recognise that the Church of England is deeply embedded in the core of the institutions of this country,” said Bishop of Croydon Rosemarie Mallett.

“We recognise that our responsibility, that we’ve taken on intentionally, is to do what we can do, and really hope that by doing what we can do, others will look at us and see that as an example.”

The Church of England has already apologised for its historical connections to slavery as Britain confronts the legacy of its colonial past.

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

On Monday, former Digicel Chairman Denis O’Brien, who is the founder of The Repair Campaign, welcomed the recommendations and said a rare opportunity now exists for an honest conversation in the United Kingdom to begin to heal the past.

“Enslavement was an unfathomable crime against humanity and Caribbean countries still live with the legacy. Former colonial powers, including the UK, left these countries with deep economic and social challenges after gaining their independence. These challenges, as a direct result of colonialism, are still impacting each country today,” O’Brien said in a statement.

“We call on all other UK institutions with historic links to enslavement, including the royal family, successor corporate entities, universities, families, and the UK Government to finally do the right thing and apologise,” he added.