  We construct and analyse a simple {\em reduced} model to study the effects of
the interplay between a density undergoing an active-to-absorbing state phase
transition (AAPT) and a fluctuating environment in the form of a broken
symmetry mode coupled to the density field in any arbitrary dimension. We show,
by using perturbative renormalisation group calculations, that {\em both} the
effects of the environment on the density and the latter's feedback on the
environment influence the ensuing universal scaling behaviour of the AAPT at
its extinction transition. Phenomenological implications of our results in the
context of more realistic natural examples are discussed.
