News and events

On Thursday 17 February 2022 at 5.30pm, we’ll run an online training session for anyone who wants to be a leader in our Divest the Church of England campaign. Register for our one-hour session on Zoom here.

As an official partner of the Stop Cambo campaign, Operation Noah celebrates the news that Shell has withdrawn from the Cambo oil development, west of Shetland.

Prior to Shell’s announcement, over 70 Church of England clergy and bishops, including Rt Revd Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, had added their names to an open letter to the Church of England’s Pensions Board, expressing serious concerns about Shell’s plans for the Cambo oil field. The letter stated that the Church of England Pensions Board, which invests in Shell, ‘must make it clear to Shell that swift and resolute action will follow if it does not immediately abandon plans for the Cambo oil field’.

While Shell has concluded that the project is not financially viable, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that there can be no new fossil fuel developments if the world is to limit warming to 1.5°C.

The UK Government is now under pressure to officially reject the Cambo oil field. Majority stakeholder in the Cambo oil field, Siccar Point Energy, has expressed its desire to move forward with the project with new backers. If it were to go ahead, the Cambo oil field would produce up to 170 million barrels of oil in the first phase alone, with emissions the equivalent of the annual carbon pollution from 18 coal-fired power stations. 

According to researchers from Uplift, which is coordinating the Stop Cambo campaign, North Sea oil and gas companies plan to extract at least another 1.7 billion barrels of oil from new fields before 2050. The UK Government is being urged by fossil fuel companies to approve 18 new oil and gas projects over the coming years. Shell is still planning to pursue other new oil and gas projects in UK waters.

James Buchanan, Bright Now Campaign Manager at Operation Noah, said: ‘It is wonderful news that Shell has withdrawn from the Cambo oil field, following pressure from campaigners. Following COP26, Churches need to ensure that the UK Government leads by example and rejects the Cambo oil field once and for all. There can be no new oil, gas or coal developments if we are to limit global average temperature rises to 1.5°C. The world urgently needs a fair and fast transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which ensures climate justice and will create green jobs for years to come.’

In May 2021, the Church of England’s Pensions Board voted in favour of Shell’s energy transition plan, which includes increasing gas production by 20% in the next few years and involves plans to seek out new fossil fuel reserves for years to come.

Shell is also under significant pressure to stop seismic drilling off the coast of South Africa. More than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling for an end to the seismic drilling and more than 30 petrol stations are now boycotting Shell. In September, more than 20 Anglican bishops in Southern Africa called for an immediate halt to gas and oil exploration in Africa.

Most UK Churches, including the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church with £1.3 billion of assets under management, have fully divested from fossil fuel companies. An increasing number of Church of England dioceses are joining them, including the Diocese of Durham, the Diocese of Oxford and the Diocese of Norwich.

Tessa Khan, Director of Uplift, said: ‘This is the end for Cambo. Shell has seen the writing on the wall. Its statement makes it clear that the economics are against new oil and gas developments. But the widespread public and political pressure is what’s made Cambo untenable. This is a message to the UK government that there is no case for new oil and gas. It must put Cambo out of its misery and reject it now.’

We are hiring for two exciting new roles, a Bright Now Campaign Manager and a Bright Now Campaign Officer. The contract period for both roles will be two years.

We are looking for two enthusiastic and motivated people to join our growing team at this key moment for Operation Noah’s Bright Now campaign. The Bright Now campaign encourages UK Churches to divest from fossil fuel companies and invest in climate solutions – working with partners in the UK and globally.

Operation Noah has received grant funding to scale up our work with UK Churches and faith institutions on investment in climate solutions, such as renewable energy. We will also work with partners on a campaign to encourage the Church of England to increase tree coverage on its land and improve its land management practices, given the urgent climate and biodiversity crises.

The Campaign Manager position is a full-time role, working 35 hours per week, with an emphasis on impact investing in climate solutions and nature-based solutions. Read the Bright Now Campaign Manager job description here.

The Campaign Officer position is a part-time role, working 21 hours per week, with an emphasis on nature-based solutions and impact investing in climate solutions. Read the Bright Now Campaign Officer job description here.

The successful candidates will be employees of Operation Noah. These jobs are based in our office near London Bridge and can involve some home working, subject to agreement. (Operation Noah will continue to be responsive to changing circumstances and to ensure the safety of our employees.)

We expect to hold interviews on Monday 13 December (for the Bright Now Campaign Manager role) and Wednesday 15 December (for the Bright Now Campaign Officer role).

If you would like to apply for either of these roles, please email admin@operationnoah.org by Sunday 5 December with your CV and a cover letter.

Listen back to the amazing speakers from our recent Supporters’ Event.:

• Chine McDonald from Christian Aid on racial and climate justice
• Rev Dr Dave Gregory from Baptist Union Environmental Network and the John Ray Initiative on divesting from fossil fuels
• Josh Tregale of MOCKCOP26 on youth climate activism

Ruth Jarman reviews a recent episode of the podcast, Outrage and Optimism.

Outrage and Optimism exists to use outrage about climate change to fuel optimism for tackling it. It is hosted by the self-confessed ‘stubborn climate optimists’ Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, authors of The Future We Choose.

I’ve known about the impending, accelerating, now teetering climate crisis for three decades. I’ve followed the various communications strategies, including the theory that ‘we mustn’t scare people – we must give people hope’, which often resulted in a watering-down of the science, leaving people complacent and unmoved.

Outrage and Optimism tries to hold on to the ‘we must give people hope’ while allowing the full force of the science to terrify and outrage us. It is a difficult balance but is convincingly made by the ‘hall of fame’ in ecological and economic limits who featured in Breaking Boundaries, Post Growth & The Future We Choose, presented on 21 June; the recording is now available as a podcast.

Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research & author of Breaking Boundaries, admitted that his scientific community had, until now, been reticent in speaking out because they were nervous about creating fear. They are now getting nervous about climate breakdown based on the evidence they are seeing. ‘Suddenly,’ he said, ‘we have come to this point where we have run out of time… and everywhere in the world scientists are now rising up on their own evidence.’

• Fifty percent of the world’s richest marine ecosystem, coral, is dead
• The Amazon, the world’s richest biome, has flipped from carbon sink to carbon source
• The Arctic is moving irreversibly towards ice-free summers.

‘This has happened on our watch, and we need to get outraged,’ he continued, saying that the resultant adrenaline can help us work towards a cure, for which we still have a slim chance.

Tim Jackson is director of The Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at the University of Surrey and author of Post Growth. He was asked ‘what constitutes a soulful life?’ In reply, he said that a society that tries to persuade us that the answer to happiness is to clutter our lives with more and more possessions is profoundly wrong. The wisdom that there are limits can be the beginning of a guide to a richer, more fulfilling life. ‘Our job is to hold on to what it means to be truly human,’ he said, ‘and this way of living within limits will also mean that we do not destroy life on earth.’

I highly recommend listening to the recording of this conversation. May it fuel your outrage and optimism!

Ruth is Administration Officer at Operation Noah