Christian Climate Action protests North Atlantic oilfield amid call for Lenten ‘carbon fast’

‘The World Council of Churches invites the Christian family into a global systemic carbon fast not only to reduce personal carbon footprints but to reshape the systems that drive exploitation and destruction of the web of life.’

Christian Climate Action marked Ash Wednesday with a 24-hour prayer vigil outside St Paul’s, London, urging the Church to “join us in repenting of our part in climate suffering and in fossil fuel destruction”.

The activists took part in a “die-in” demonstration, lying under white sheets in front of the steps of St Paul’s with tombstones at their feet to represent people around the world dying due to extreme climate impacts, in protest of Rosebank, a planned new oilfield in the North Atlantic, 80 miles off the coast of Shetland.

The government approved an application from Equinor, a Norwegian oil giant, to start developing the oilfield in 2023, but in January 2025, the Scottish courts ruled that this decision was unlawful, due to the emissions that would be caused by burning the field’s reserves.

Rosebank is the UK’s biggest undeveloped oil and gas field, and its oil and gas would produce more than 200 million tonnes of CO2, according to estimates from Rystad Energy. This is more than the combined annual CO2 emissions of 700 million people in all 28 low-income countries in the world.

However, in October 2025, Equinor submitted an “Environmental Impact Assessment” to reopen the case, and a new decision on the project is still pending.

Christian Climate Action said they expect the Government will announce a decision on Rosebank’s licence during Lent. They have written to Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell and lead bishop for the environment Graham Usher, urging them to “speak out prophetically and demand plans for the vast Rosebank oilfield to be stopped”.

Revd Helen Burnett, vicar from Chaldon, Surrey, who helped organise the protest, said, “Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, which is the season of repentance and reflection. A time when Christians consider their commitment to living within the limits of the gospel which frees us to live in ways that bring justice and peace. 

“That’s why we have chosen today to urge the Church to speak out against fossil fuel extraction and here in the UK that means stopping the Rosebank oil field from being developed.”

Judith, a member of the Third Order of St Francis who also took part, said, “With almost daily reports about the impact of the climate and biodiversity crisis from scientists, economists and security experts, I deplore the lack of action and engagement by institutions such as the Government and the Church. 

“By taking part in this 24-hour vigil at the start of Lent, a season when through prayer and acts of self-sacrifice we are encouraged to reflect on and realign our lives with Christ, I hope I can draw attention to the urgency with which we should be changing direction. We must stop crucifying creation.” 

Meanwhile, the World Council of Churches has encouraged Christians to undertake “a global systemic carbon fast” this Lent: to “seek not only to reduce personal carbon footprints but to reshape the systems that drive exploitation and destruction of the web of life”, through “prayer, reflection, and collective action”.

The co-presidents of Catholic peace movement Pax Christi International, Sr Wamuyu Wachira and Bishop Colin Bagaforo, also urged care for creation in Lent and Ramadan: “Ramadan and Lent remind us that faith must transform the heart and shape our actions.

“Our faith cannot be separated from care for creation and its inhabitants. Pope Francis, in Laudato Si’, reminds us that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one. The Qur’an teaches that humanity is called to be khalifa, steward of God’s creation.”

Faith for the Climate, an interfaith initiative founded by Canon Giles Goddard, also said that the coincidence of Lent and Ramadan this year should “nourish our work on climate justice”.

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