October 2020

Dear friends,

This month we have news of support for fossil fuel divestment in the Methodist Church, a net zero target set by the Church of Scotland and an impact investing webinar for the Catholic church. Our recent website blogs include a report on a Climate Sunday service from one of our trustees.

As the nights draw in and we continue to tackle both the climate emergency and a global pandemic, we pray for good rest, good health and perseverance for our supporters.

All the best,
The Operation Noah team

Methodist Council votes for resolution on fossil fuel divestment

The Methodist Council has voted to support a resolution on divestment from fossil fuel companies, agreeing that further action is needed to fully implement a motion on divestment passed by the 2017 Methodist Conference. The debate had been referred to Council by the Methodist Conference in July. Operation Noah has been supporting a group of Methodists calling for divestment.

Martha Rand, a representative of the Methodist Youth Assembly, who proposed the motion at Methodist Conference in July, said: ‘I am overjoyed that Methodist Council has agreed that JACEI [the Church’s Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment] and the Central Finance Board have not gone far enough in response to the climate emergency. This is vital not just for the new generation of Methodists, but also in support of our partner Churches around the world. We hope that the Methodist Church will now act with urgency to fully divest from all fossil fuel companies.’

Read more on the outcome of the Methodist Council divestment debate.

Church of Scotland sets 2030 net zero target

Operation Noah joyfully welcomes the Church of Scotland’s decision, made at its General Assembly earlier this month, to set a 2030 net zero target. The decision is especially significant as Glasgow prepares to host the UN climate talks, COP26, in November 2021.

Commissioners at the General Assembly also voted in favour of a motion on fossil fuel divestment proposed by Seonaid Knox. This calls on the Faith Impact Forum to ‘report to the 2021 General Assembly on the ethical, scientific and theological arguments for and against urgent disinvestment from oil and gas companies’.

Read more about the Church of Scotland’s 2030 net zero decision.

Join the global divestment announcement for faith organisations – November 2020

Together with the World Council of Churches, the Global Catholic Climate Movement, Green Anglicans and GreenFaith, Operation Noah is inviting churches and other faith organisations to join a global divestment announcement on 16 November 2020.

If you would be interested in getting your local church, regional Church structures (dioceses and equivalents) or religious order to make a divestment commitment, we would be delighted to hear from you. This involves making a commitment to divest any investments in fossil fuel companies within a five-year timeframe and a pledge not to invest in fossil fuels in the future.

Please get in touch with Bokani Tshidzu on bokani.tshidzu@operationnoah.org before 10 November 2020 for further information or to register your interest.

Read our blog for 10 reasons to divest from fossil fuels.

Webinar shows vital role of Catholic impact investing in advancing just, green recovery

Earlier this month more than 250 people attended the second part of ‘Catholic investment for an integral ecology’, a webinar series organised by the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative, Operation Noah and partner organisations.

‘Investment for a green recovery: innovation in impact investing’, focused on impact investing, exploring how Catholic organisations can make investments with positive environmental and social impacts. This followed a webinar last month, entitled ‘Fossil fuel divestment: accelerating the clean energy transition’.

Lord Deben, Chair of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change and keynote speaker, said that Catholic organisations need to ‘look at the effects of [their] investments and make decisions based upon those effects’. He added that, in the lead up to the UN climate talks (COP26) in Glasgow next year, ‘It is hugely important for the Catholic community to be very visible … it must be very determined, and it must be clear that we all ought to be in this together.’

Watch the full webinar

Events

‘Community and Global Engagement'. Rachie Ross, Operation Noah Trustee, will be speaking at a Faiths4Change event called , alongside the Bishop of Warrington and members of two parishes who are at different stages of Eco Church. Thursday 12 November.

‘The Climate Emergency, COP & Coronavirus: How do we respond?' A video of a talk from Adrian Shaw, the Climate Change Officer for the Church of Scotland and secretary of Eco-Congregation Scotland.

'Virtual Lobby: Real Change'. SCIAF is one of more than 90 organisations encouraging and supporting people across Scotland to virtually lobby their MP between 4 and 11 November to demand a just and green recovery from Covid-19.

'BritainTalksClimate'. Climate Outreach is holding this free webinar on 18 November to launch their new toolkit for engaging the British public on climate change.

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