October 2023

Dear Friends,

Earlier this month at our online Supporters’ Event, Revd Vanessa Elston talked about the need to create a ‘new normal’ and, in so doing, challenge deeply entrenched, exploitative systems that all too often go unquestioned.

More than 400 Christian leaders did just that when they signed our Stop Rosebank letter, calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to stop the Rosebank oil field, which will not provide energy security (the vast majority of the oil will be exported), will not lower energy bills (renewables are the cheapest form of energy and oil from Rosebank will be sold on the international market at international prices) and will not contribute to a safer climate.

The Church of England has also recently been modelling a new normal by divesting from fossil fuels at a national level, and by announcing an initial £30 million to decarbonise its buildings in line with its 2030 Net Zero target. In addition to decarbonisation, we’re also encouraging the CofE, and all UK denominations and faith groups, to scale up investment in climate solutions.

In fact, just yesterday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the world is on an ‘unstoppable’ shift to renewable energy but that the phase down of fossil fuels is not happening quickly enough, with fossil fuel investment still double what it should be. Churches can help create a new normal by moving money out of destructive fossil fuels and into climate solutions.

Finally, as if we needed any more reason to bring the damaging fossil fuel era to an end, scientists have found that increased melting of West Antarctica’s ice shelves is now unavoidable with future sea-level rises potentially much greater than had previously been estimated. The time to act is now – what can we, as Christians, do today to create a new normal?

The Operation Noah Team

Investment professionals: register to attend our 7 November Church Investment in Climate Solutions conference in London, with £20 concession tickets now available

Are you a financial decision-maker for a denomination, diocese or Church investment body? If so, you are invited to attend our Financing a Liveable Future: Church Investment in Climate Solutions conference at Friends’ House, Euston Road, London on Tuesday 7 November, 10am to 4pm.

We have also just increased the number of £20 concession tickets available and are inviting all Church investment professionals to attend regardless of cost. This conference is a partnership between Operation Noah and FaithInvest and comes at a crucial time as investment in climate solutions needs to nearly treble from current levels to meet climate targets. Register here.

427 Christian leaders call on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to show moral leadership and Stop Rosebank oil field

Earlier this month, 427 UK Christian leaders, including 20 Catholic and Anglican bishops, called on the Prime Minister to cancel the Rosebank oil field, which charity and Church leaders say ‘will not provide energy security, uphold our obligations to care for our global neighbours or create sustainable jobs fit for the green energy future we need’. The letter states, ‘As Christian leaders from around the UK, we do not take a partisan view on Rosebank, we take a moral view. It’s time to show international and moral leadership – and stop Rosebank.’ Read more.

Watch again: Operation Noah Supporters’ Event featuring Chine McDonald

On Saturday 14 October, Operation Noah held our 2023 online Supporters’ Event, with three speakers reflecting on our topic, Somewhere Good: The Climate Crisis and the Prophetic Imagination. Our speakers were Chine McDonald, author and Director of Theos, a Christian think tank; Revd Vanessa Elston, pioneer priest in Southwark Diocese and a climate activist; and Revd Vanessa Conant, Rector of St Mary’s Walthamstow and co-sponsor of a clergy letter from earlier this year calling on the Church of England to divest from fossil fuels. Watch here.

Book Review: Bodies on the Line: Christians, Civil Resistance and the Climate Crisis by Revd Sue Parfitt

Operation Noah Trustee Nicky Bull reviews a new book from Revd Sue Parfitt, an Anglican priest who has become well known for taking non-violent direct action in the face of political and corporate inaction on the climate and nature crises. As a result of her environmental protests, Parfitt has regularly been arrested, and in Bodies on the Line (Lab/ora Press) she gives ‘a reasoned and extremely rational defence of these actions’. Read more.

Application deadline extended to Monday 13 November: Bright Now Campaign Director needed

Operation Noah is looking for a Bright Now Campaign Director and has extended the application deadline to Monday 13 November at 5pm. We are looking for an enthusiastic, strategic and motivated person with campaigning experience to lead the team at a key moment for Operation Noah’s Bright Now Campaign. Our Bright Now campaign encourages UK Churches to divest from fossil fuel companies and invest in climate solutions alongside encouraging UK Churches to manage their land in ways that restore nature and reduce emissions. Read more.

New video teaching series on climate justice

In this short review, Mick Oliver, an Operation Noah trustee, recommends a new six-part video series on climate justice from Revd Jon Swales and Alice Brencher. Mick calls the video series a good follow-on to Operation Noah’s Tenants of the King Bible study course. Read more.

Resources, news, events and opportunities

In ‘Laudate Deum’ – a follow-up to his 2015 encyclical on the environment, ‘Laudato Si’’ – Pope Francis has appealed to climate change deniers and reluctant politicians to have a change of heart, saying that they cannot gloss over the human causes of global heating or deride scientific facts while the planet ‘may be nearing the breaking point’. Read more.

At least £12.2 billion in local UK government pensions – though possibly significantly more – is still invested in climate-wrecking fossil fuels, according to a new analysis by Friends of the Earth and Platform London. This includes £10.4bn of investments in England, £1.4bn in Scotland, £227mn in Wales and £28mn in Northern Ireland. Read more.

Last week, Christians joined other climate campaigners, including Greta Thunberg, in protesting the Energy Intelligence Forum which brings together fossil fuel executives and government ministers. Formerly known as the ‘Oil & Money’ conference, activists unveiled banners and protested outside the three-day conference in London. Read more.

A free webinar on how small and medium-sized churches can attract funding for carbon-cutting projects will be held on 9 November at 7pm. Sponsored by the Church of England and led by planning consultants Andrew Johnson and Andrew Barton, the webinar will focus on applying to faith-based grant funders for environmental projects. Register here.

Homeowners can now apply for an increased grant to install a heat pump, a change which could make heat pumps cheaper than gas boilers for some UK households. The UK Government changed the scheme amid criticism that the rollout of the eco-friendly form of heating, which also lowers energy bills, has been too slow. The grant available under the boiler upgrade scheme for air source heat pumps has increased from £5,000 to £7,500. Read more.

Our co-founder charity, Green Christian, is hiring for two part-time roles. Read more.

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