More than 400 Christian and charity leaders from around the UK have called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to cancel the Rosebank oil field. Located off the Scottish coast, critics said its possible production of up to 300 million barrels of oil will harm climate change targets.
Signatories of an open letter dated 5 October include Archbishop William Nolan of Glasgow and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
Church leaders and Christian charities say they are taking moral leadership. Lord 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?”
Other signatories include Bishop Terence Drainey of Middlesbrough, Dr James Trewby of the Columban Missionaries, Sr Kate Midgley of the Laudato Si Animators, Fr Chris Hughes, Chair of the Hexham and Newcastle Diocesan Environmental Group, and Jennifer Larbie, Head of UK Advocacy and Campaigns at Christian Aid.
Nicky Bull, vice chair of Operation Noah, which promoted the open letter on its website, said, “UK Church leaders understand that this is not a time for political partisanship, but a time for moral clarity. Stopping Rosebank is a moral imperative, something faith leaders have made clear with today’s letter.”
The letter of 5 October 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”.
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