logo2016
 

June 2020

Dear friends,

Welcome to the June edition of Operation Noah’s newsletter.

There's still time to sign up for our online Supporters’ Event and AGM, we’ve news of the launch of Climate Sunday and a recording of our Bright Now webinar is now online.

All the best,
The Operation Noah team

PS: We apologise if you receive this newsletter twice - we made an error the first time we sent it and we wanted to make sure everyone receives it.
***
photo-1529070538774-1843cb3265df

Online Operation Noah Supporters’ Event and AGM

Wednesday 15 July, 10:30am-12:30pm
Register for your free place

Our Supporters’ Day and AGM is going online! Join us via Zoom.

Speakers:

▪ David Pickering, Moderator of the United Reformed Church National Synod of Scotland, and Chair of Operation Noah from 2005 to 2010. David played a key role in leading the United Reformed Church to divest from fossil fuel producing companies in 2019.
▪ Bokani Tshidzu, Bright Now Campaign Officer at Operation Noah. Bright Now is our campaign asking churches to divest from fossil fuels.
▪ James Anthony, Climate Sunday Project Coordinator. Climate Sunday is supporting churches of all denominations to hold a special service on climate change in the run-up to COP26.
▪ David Pickering, Moderator of the United Reformed Church National Synod of Scotland, and Chair of Operation Noah from 2005 to 2010. David played a key role in leading the United Reformed Church to divest from fossil fuel producing companies in 2019.
▪ Bokani Tshidzu, Bright Now Campaign Officer at Operation Noah. Bright Now is our campaign asking churches to divest from fossil fuels.
▪ James Anthony, Climate Sunday Project Coordinator. Climate Sunday is supporting churches of all denominations to hold a special service on climate change in the run-up to COP26.

Workshop topics:

▪ A Green Recovery
▪ COP26
▪ Bright Now Campaign Update
▪ Climate Sunday Update
▪ Speaker Training
▪ Bible Study: Creation Care: Genesis to Revelation
▪ Running Tenants of the King
▪ A Green Recovery
▪ COP26
▪ Bright Now Campaign Update
▪ Climate Sunday Update
▪ Speaker Training
▪ Bible Study: Creation Care: Genesis to Revelation
▪ Running Tenants of the King

Register for your free place
Climate Sunday - black
***

Climate Sunday

Sunday 6 September 2020 - Sunday 5 September 2021

Climate Sunday is a new initiative organised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland with support from Operation Noah and other charities including CAFOD, Christian Aid, Tearfund and A Rocha UK.

We’re encouraging local churches to hold a local Climate Sunday at any time during the 12 months starting on 6 September 2020. During their local Climate Sunday, we invite each church to do one or more of three things:

▪ Climate service: Hold a climate-focused service, to explore the theological and scientific basis of creation care and action on climate, to pray, and to commit to action.
▪ Commit: Make a commitment as a local church community to taking long-term action to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.
▪ Call: Join with other churches and wider society by adding its name to a common call for the UK Government to take much bolder action on climate change in this country in advance of the COP26, climate talks in Glasgow in 2021, and to strengthen its credibility to lead the international community to adopt a step change in action at COP26.
▪ Climate service: Hold a climate-focused service, to explore the theological and scientific basis of creation care and action on climate, to pray, and to commit to action.
▪ Commit: Make a commitment as a local church community to taking long-term action to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.
▪ Call: Join with other churches and wider society by adding its name to a common call for the UK Government to take much bolder action on climate change in this country in advance of the COP26, climate talks in Glasgow in 2021, and to strengthen its credibility to lead the international community to adopt a step change in action at COP26.

The culmination of the campaign will be a national Climate Sunday event on Sunday 5 September 2021, to share church commitments and pray for bold action and courageous leadership at COP26.

Chief Executive of A Rocha UK, Andy Atkins, and chair of the coalition, said: ‘Our vision is to leave a lasting legacy of thousands of UK churches better equipped to address this critical issue as part of their normal discipleship and mission; and to make a very significant contribution to civil society efforts to secure adequate national and international action at the COP26 conference.’

Our Supporters' Event will include a workshop on Climate Sunday.

Read more
Bright Now Logo 2016
Church-Investments-in-Major-Oil-Companies-Cover-web-version-266x163

Webinar recording on Church investments in major oil companies

Operation Noah hosted a webinar earlier this month to launch our new report, Church investments in major oil companies: Paris compliant or Paris defiant?, and more than 150 people followed it live!

The webinar included a presentation of key findings of the report, as well as inspiring reflections from our guest speakers. The webinar is available to watch again here.

Methodist Church divests from BP and Total, but continues investing in four oil companies

The Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church has announced its divestment from BP and Total, but has continued investing in four oil and gas companies: Shell, Repsol, ENI and Equinor.

While the decision to divest from BP and Total is a welcome step forward, it does not fully implement the motion on divestment passed at Methodist Conference in 2017, which called for divestment by 2020 from any oil company ‘which had not aligned their business investment plans with the Paris Agreement target of a global temperature rise well below 2 degrees’.

Several recent reports, including Carbon Tracker and Transition Pathway Initiative research, as well as our own Bright Now report, have found that no oil and gas companies are aligned with the Paris Agreement. It is now time for the Methodist Church to complete divestment from all oil and gas companies, and we urge the Methodist Conference to support full divestment when it meets at the end of this month.

Read more

The Vatican urges Catholics to divest from fossil fuel companies

The Vatican has issued its first-ever set of comprehensive environmental guidelines. The document, entitled ‘Journeying Towards Care for Our Common Home: Five Years After Laudato Si’,’ suggests concrete ways for the Church to implement Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical on the care of our common home.

The guidelines frame investing in fossil fuels as an ethical choice, on a par with other significant ethical choices. The guidelines suggest that Catholic institutions’ ethical commitments should lead to ‘avoiding supporting companies that harm human or social ecology (for example, abortion and weapons) and environmental ecology (for example, fossil fuels)'. This is the first-ever endorsement of the fossil fuel divestment campaign to come from the Vatican as a whole.

Read more
***
Catch up with our most recent blog posts

Book review: Climate crisis: the challenge to the Church. Kevin Shang reviews this book for Operation Noah.

What Will It Take to Cool the Planet? An article by Bill McKibben which originally appeared in The New Yorker.
***
OIP2

Events & Campaigns

1. Climate and Colour, Tuesday 7 July, 8pm-9:30pm. Christian Climate Action is organising this event which will reflect on white privilege, a history of institutionalised racism in the church and the racial lens through which we view climate change, feel grief and plan action. Speakers include Revd Azariah France-Williams, Hannah Malcolm and Samantha Lindo.
2. The Time is Now: virtual lobby. Tuesday 30 June. The Climate Coalition is organising a virtual lobby of MPs via video conferencing to ask for a fair and green recovery. Green Christian has a template letter to help you invite your local church to get involved.
3. BuildBackBetter. The BuildBackBetter campaign is asking you to sign a letter.
4. Teach the Future is asking the UK Government to retrofit all educational buildings so that they are net zero by 2030. Write to your MP.
5. Good news on the local electricity bill. This bill would empower communities to sell their energy directly to local people.
6. Environmental racism - when #Blacklives don’t matter. Anglican Communion Environment Network statement.
1. Climate and Colour, Tuesday 7 July, 8pm-9:30pm. Christian Climate Action is organising this event which will reflect on white privilege, a history of institutionalised racism in the church and the racial lens through which we view climate change, feel grief and plan action. Speakers include Revd Azariah France-Williams, Hannah Malcolm and Samantha Lindo.
2. The Time is Now: virtual lobby. Tuesday 30 June. The Climate Coalition is organising a virtual lobby of MPs via video conferencing to ask for a fair and green recovery. Green Christian has a template letter to help you invite your local church to get involved.
3. BuildBackBetter. The BuildBackBetter campaign is asking you to sign a letter.
4. Teach the Future is asking the UK Government to retrofit all educational buildings so that they are net zero by 2030. Write to your MP.
5. Good news on the local electricity bill. This bill would empower communities to sell their energy directly to local people.
6. Environmental racism - when #Blacklives don’t matter. Anglican Communion Environment Network statement.
***

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.
***

You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for updates on the Operation Noah or Bright Now websites, or asked for updates when you signed our Fossil Free petition. If you no longer wish to receive emails from us, please click the Unsubscribe button below.
 

©2024 Operation Noah | Operation Noah, Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JB

   
 
Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company