The Bishops of Oxford, Reading, Buckingham and Dorchester are among more than 400 Christian leaders from around the UK, which have called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to cancel the Rosebank oil field. Coordinated by Operation Noah, the charity, alongside other Church leaders say that this oil field ‘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’.
Among the other 427 signatories to the open letter are 20 Catholic and Anglican bishops, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rt Revd Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of Glasgow, Rt Revd William Nolan, one of the most senior Roman Catholic leaders in Scotland and the UK.
‘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.’
Other signatories include Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church (Most Revd Mark Strange); Head of UK Advocacy and Campaigns at Christian Aid (Jennifer Larbie); General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Wales (Revd Judith Morris); Moderator of the the United Reformed Church’s National Synod of Scotland (Revd Paul Whittle); and Campaigns Lead for the Young Christian Climate Network (Dr Chris Manktelow).
The letter from Church and charity leaders came a day after Pope Francis issued a papal document, pushing back against climate denial, defending climate protestors and calling for decisive action as ‘the world in which we live is collapsing and may be near breaking point’.
As the open letter from Christian leaders to the Prime Minister states, ‘Your government will know that both the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been clear that we cannot afford to burn all the oil and gas from existing fossil fuel developments, let alone from new ones, and still limit global heating to 1.5°C’.
Rt Revd Rowan Williams, said, ‘We need to remember that postponing action on the climate is not a neutral matter but makes the problem more acute. Do we really want to leave the next generation with a challenge even more hard and costly than the one we face today?’
The Diocese of Oxford has committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2035, and completed its divestment from fossil fuels in 2021.
Read more about our work on environmental action.