‘Reject Rosebank oilfield’, Catholics urge Burnham

‘The climate crisis is not simply an environmental challenge but a profound social one. Its consequences are already being felt by millions of people across the world.’

Catholic groups have urged Andy Burnham not to approve Rosebank, a planned new oilfield in the North Atlantic, 80 miles off the coast of Shetland, in order to safeguard “a future marked by justice, responsibility and hope”.

Highlighting Burnham’s Catholic faith, the letter was coordinated by Christian Climate Action and Operation Noah, and signed by more than 50 Catholic leaders and organisations, including Cafod, Sciaf, Caritas Social Action Network, the National Justice and Peace Network, the Laudato Si’ Movement and the Ecological Conversion Group.

 “As Catholics, we know that the Church’s social teaching reminds us that care for creation cannot be separated from care for our neighbours,” it said.

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 254 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 pending.

Labour’s 2024 manifesto had pledged to issue no new drilling licences, but to keep existing ones. Burnham has been expected to announce a position since becoming prime minister on 20 July.

He is under pressure from the oil and gas industry, which sent him a letter urging him to “back North Sea oil and gas”.

Mark Francis, Christian Climate Action spokesperson, warned that developing Rosebank would unlock as much CO2 as equivalent to about 70 per cent of the entire UK’s current annual carbon emissions.

 “This is at a time when climate scientists continue to warn that limiting global warming requires no new oil and gas expansion.”

The letter also raised the concern that Rosebank is unlikely to make a meaningful contribution to the UK’s long-term energy security, because the oil produced would be refined elsewhere and sold on international markets.

Oxford University research indicates that drilling for more North Sea oil and gas might save households £16-81 per year, whereas a complete transition to renewables could save households £441 per year.

The signatories urged the government to instead support green reindustrialisation in parts of the country to benefit workers, their communities and the shared planet.

Executive director of the Laudato Si’ Movement, Dr Lorna Gold, urged Burnham “to ‘listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’ which are louder than ever” in Europe and the UK, stating that, by saying no to fossil fuel projects, Burnham will “help to ensure a liveable world for humanity and all of creation”.

 “Deciding against new drilling for oil and gas as Rosebank would be a very clear signal of a fresh direction in British politics, and a principled response to the serious challenge of climate change,” said Fr Dominic Howarth, episcopal vicar for Caritas Diocese of Brentwood.

Sr Marie McDonald, a trustee of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, urged Burnham to “Remember the words of Pope Francis: ‘We have inherited a garden. Let’s not leave a desert to our children.’”

The letter also quoted Pope Francis’ statement in 2022: “Now is the time for new courage in abandoning fossil fuels to accelerate the development of zero- or positive-impact sources of energy.”

It concluded with a question posed by Pope Leo XIV: “God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created for the benefit of all and for future generations, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters. What will be our answer, my dear friends?”

Backbench Labour MP Rachael Maskell, also a Christian, told the BBC that, at a time when the UK is experiencing heatwaves and wildfires, it is more important than ever to “follow the climate science because we have got a climate emergency”.

More than 2,700 people in England and Wales are believed to have died from heat-related causes in the exceptional heatwaves in May and June alone.

“The climate science is really clear that we cannot continue to use carbon based fuels,” said Maskell.

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