Below is the text of the Archbishop’s New Year’s Message. This will be broadcast, for the first time, twice. First on New Year’s Eve at 7:55 pm (BBC2) and New Year’s Day at 12:55pm (BBC1). The message was filmed in Canterbury.

"Canterbury has been the home of Christianity in England since St Augustine arrived fourteen hundred years ago. But even here, where the past is so alive, we do not escape the present. Nor would we want to.

This year, for the tenth time, I became a grandfather. Meet little Linus John, just three months old. Already quite a character! 

A birth in the family is one of those catch-your-breath moments, reminding us of life's mystery - both precious and fragile. My wife Eileen and I know this from sad experience. Our first child was stillborn. That was nearly 40 years ago but we never forget Stephen.

We want our grandchildren to leave this earth better than they find it - but children born today risk doing more to damage the planet than nurture it. Little Linus, harmless though he looks, has the potential - like the rest of us - to become a dangerous predator plundering the earth.

Linus will discover a world of shocking inequality, a 20-80 world where 20% of us consume 80% of the natural resources. A world where a minority have far more than we really need while the majority have barely enough to get by.

A child born in a wealthy country is likely to consume, waste and pollute more in his lifetime than 50 children born in developing nations. In fact, our energy-burning lifestyles are pushing our planet to the point of no return.

Those who have suffered badly in recent floods, need no reminder of the fragile ecological balance of our world. It may not be time to build an ark like Noah, but it is high time to take better care of God's creation.

Indeed, in my view this is a challenge humanity must not ignore.

"He’s got the whole world in his hands" runs the old spiritual. It speaks to us of a God who created all things. And of a God who invites us all, through the gift of Jesus Christ, to share in the work of his hands. For God links his hands to ours and in them we hold the destiny of the planet. It is dawning on us at last that the life of our world is as vulnerable as the children we raise. 

But little Linus here is not just part of my family, he's also part of God's family.And in that family, where God is father, we are all cherished offspring - all equally precious. We who have plenty dare not demand more for ourselves if in the process we impoverish the planet for all.

My hope then as we begin the third Millennium, is that Linus will grow in the Christian faith and come to know that God is not only a creator but also a loving father. And I pray that when Linus reaches my age, he and his generation will have done more than we have to heal our suffering world. More to ensure that its resources are shared fairly. 

That would be a fitting tribute to that magnificent person, Jesus Christ, who said "let the little children come to me for theirs is the Kingdom of God".

A very happy New Year."