June 2022

Dear Friends,

Since our last newsletter, we’ve hosted two webinars with an impressive collection of speakers, including author and climate activist Bill McKibben – who spoke at our Fossil Fuelled Five event on 31 May – and Dr Svitlana Romanko, a Ukrainian environmental lawyer and campaigner who spoke at our 18 June Alternatives to Fossil Fuelled Violence Supporters’ Event.

What came through loud and clear in both webinars was that fossil fuel companies continue to operate in bad faith, and that governments continue to let them get away with it; in the case of the Russian government, fossil fuels are directly funding its brutal invasion of Ukraine.

From fossil fuel companies’ dangerous expansion plans that threaten the goal of limiting global heating to an average 1.5°C, to their violation of land rights, destabilisation of communities and destruction of ecosystems, it's time to divest from fossil fuels and invest in climate solutions.

Last year, before COP26 in Glasgow, a record 72 faith institutions announced their divestment from fossil fuels. And while we don’t expect to match those numbers on 5 July, we believe next week’s divestment announcement will be equally important given the extremely dangerous expansion plans of fossil fuel companies who are banking on climate catastrophe.

This summer, we’re encouraging churches and faith groups to do something prophetic, counter-cultural and hope-filled: choose life, and divest from fossil fuels.

The Operation Noah Team

Watch again: The Global Church & The Fossil Fuelled Five

If you missed our 31 May 2022 webinar on The Global Church & The Fossil Fuelled Five or would like to see it again, you can watch it here. Our panellists explored the gap between the green rhetoric of five wealthy countries (US, UK, Canada, Norway, Australia) and their plans to increase fossil fuel production. Referencing the climate disasters we’re seeing, Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, said: ‘None of it is unexpected; all of it is brutal…We need to be moving very fast and on an enormous scale because we are very far behind.’ Read more.

Watch again: Alternatives to Fossil Fuelled Violence

On Saturday 18 June, Ukraine’s Dr Svitlana Romanko, Mozambique’s Rt Revd Manuel Ernesto and South Africa’s Revd Dr Rachel Mash spoke at our online Supporters’ Event, which was chaired by Operation Noah trustee Shilpita Mathews. Our theme was, Alternatives to Fossil Fuelled Violence: Listening to Our Global Neighbours. In her keynote address, Dr Svitlana Romanko, an environmental lawyer who previously worked for the Laudato Si’ Movement and is now working for Stand with Ukraine, addressed how fossil fuels are funding conflict around the world, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to conflict in Mozambique. Watch it again here.

On the Operation Noah blog

Nicky Bull reviews Like There’s No Tomorrow – a book on climate and faith

Frances Ward, a Church of England vicar, has suffered from eco-anxiety for some time. This book is her story of spending six weeks in a slow-moving ‘retreat’, taking readers on a multi-layered journey as she reviews her position as a church minister alongside experiencing periods of intense anguish over the climate emergency. Read more.

‘You have to love what you’re seeking to protect’ – Jim Green and Chris Hull continue divestment pilgrimage

In April, divestment campaigners Jim Green and Chris Hull cycled from their homes in Norwich to three Church of England dioceses on a divestment pilgrimage. Yet Jim said he felt he could do more and, earlier this month, he cycled to four additional dioceses, all of which are still invested in fossil fuels. Next week, Jim plans to cycle to five more dioceses that have yet to divest, with Chris joining him for part of the ride. Read more.

Resources, news, events and opportunities

Christians being confirmed or baptised in the Diocese of Oxford will now be asked to commit to protecting the environment as part of the diocese’s formal liturgy. Candidates will be asked to ‘strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the Earth’. The addition comes as Oxford Diocese announces plans to spend £10 million improving the energy efficiency of its vicarages in an effort to hit net zero emissions by 2035. Read more.

London has endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, becoming the largest city to join this global initiative aimed at tackling fossil fuel production. The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is now supported by 54 municipal and sub-national governments around the world, including Paris, Sydney, Barcelona and Los Angeles. Read more.

On 16 June, the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative (CIIC) held a webinar on Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment (Laudato Si’) and impact investing. Watch it here.

A resolution to get the National Trust to stop banking with Barclays – which, according to Banking on Climate Chaos’s Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2022, financed fossil fuels to the tune of $167 billion between 2016-2021 – has now been delivered to the charity. Drew James, coordinator of the ‘Better without Barclays Bank’ campaign, has asked Operation Noah supporters to pray that the charity’s trustees will support the resolution, and that National Trust members, who should receive voting papers in August or early September, will vote in favour.

Carbon Tracker’s report, Unburnable Carbon: Ten Years On, finds that over $1 trillion of oil and gas assets risk becoming stranded as a result of policy action on climate and the rise in alternative energy sources. The report finds that in order to limit global heating to an average 1.5°C, 90% of fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground. The majority of this ‘unburnable carbon’ is held by companies listed in just a handful of global financial centres. Read more.

Christian Climate Action will hold a family-friendly climate vigil in York on Friday 8 July from 12.45pm to 5pm, encouraging the Diocese of York and the Church of England to divest from fossil fuels. The vigil will be held near Central Hall, University of York, which is where York’s Diocesan Synod is scheduled to meet. Details.

Ukrainian organisations are calling for an end to fossil fuel expansion, which will not only supercharge climate chaos but will also fuel Russian violence and aggression in Ukraine. Dr Svitlana Romanko writes, ‘Dependence on fossil fuels drives violence and instability, with Russia’s invasion being a current high-profile example. More than 14.5 million Ukrainians fled their homes, while tens of thousands of civilians were killed.’ Read more.

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.