Praying for COP23

COP23 take place next month, with a vision to advance the Paris Agreement and accelerate climate action before 2020. We have looked at recent developments in science, business and politics to assess whether they support this aim – and have suggested some ideas for what we can do to influence the outcome of the talks.

Read more.

New videos – coming soon

It has been a busy month as we prepare video materials for our forthcoming Study Guide resource, which introduces a series of accessible New Testament reflections to inspire care for God's creation. We have lined up some exciting contributors including Ruth Valerio (Tearfund) and Revd Graham Tomlin (Bishop of Kensington).

Interested? Register your interest here.

Training with Hope for the Future

We recently participated in training with Hope for the Future – an organisation helping to equip UK citizens to develop positive partnerships with MPs.

Find out what we learned.

ACT communities – free training for climate campaigners

We know that it is often individuals who play a crucial role in mobilising their local churches and communities to take action on climate change. That is why we have partnered with several charities including Christian Aid and CAFOD for a second year of ACT Communities.

ACT Communities trains people, through training, mentoring and away-days, to develop as effective local or national campaigners for Christian action on climate change. Operation Noah will sponsor three ACT trainees for 2018. If you would like to apply, learn more, or nominate someone else who may be interested, please contact stephen.edwards@operationnoah.org.

Find out more.

Katherine Hayhoe in the UK

We are excited to hear that on 15 and 16 November, world-leading climate scientist and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe will be joining a series of events with LICC and Climate Outreach, exploring Christian perspectives on care for creation.

Catholic institutions divest from fossil fuels

On 4 October, at the culmination of Season of Creation, a group of 40 Catholic institutions announced their divestment from fossil fuels. This is the largest joint Catholic divestment announcement to date and a great cause for celebration.

Read more.

CofE and Exxon: more pressure to divest

The case for divestment from ExxonMobil has just got even stronger. A new study published by Harvard academics shows that US oil giant ExxonMobil knew about the risks of climate change as early as the 1970s, yet intentionally misled the public for decades. This study strengthens the case for divestment from an ethical and financial point of view. In September the city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit for billions of dollars against several major oil and gas companies, including Exxon.

During the Season of Creation, Operation Noah joined with Christian Climate Action to hold several vigils outside Church House, praying for Church of England investors to cut financial ties with Exxon.

Read more.

Divest your church: join the Advent Declaration

Could your church join with other local churches and religious communities across the UK in making a commitment to divest from fossil fuels? In doing so, you can support the campaign for UK Churches to divest at a national level.

If your church has existing fossil fuel investments, this would involve a commitment to divest within five years. Churches without fossil fuel investments can make a divestment commitment by pledging not to invest in fossil fuels in the future.

We hope that a joint divestment announcement will be made on the weekend of the first Sunday of Advent (Sunday 3 December). If your church would like to join the announcement, please let us know by Thursday 30 November. For more information or to register your divestment commitment, please email James Buchanan on james.buchanan@operationnoah.org.

Read more.

Why we have signed the Lofoten Declaration

Operation Noah has signed the Lofoten Declaration, a statement that climate leadership requires a managed decline of fossil fuel production. Up to now, climate action has been based on tackling emissions and cutting energy demand. This is not enough: we need to look at supply as well as demand. This means tackling the fossil fuel infrastructure itself.

Read more.

To keep up to date with events, visit our Events page or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

22–29 October, global: One World Week 2017

6–17 November, Bonn: COP23 – 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference

15 November, Oxford: Talking Climate in Texas — And Living to Tell the Tale (Katharine Hayhoe in conversation with George Marshall)

16 November, London: John Stott London Lecture: Climate and Faith in the Public Arena (Katharine Hayhoe)

18 November, Sheffield: Joy in Enough: the Big Workshop (Green Christian event)

22 November, London: William Temple Foundation Annual Lecture: Jonathan Bartley on Engaging a Politics of Hope - Economics, Belief and the Environment

Please support the work of Operation Noah

Our campaigns and activities rely on donations from individuals and organisations so please consider giving a one-off or regular donation here. You could also encourage your church to do a service collection or make a donation.