History of Operation Noah

Operation Noah was founded in 2001 by Christian Ecology Link (CEL) and later became a joint project of CEL and the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Operation Noah was the first Christian campaign to focus exclusively on the urgent need to address climate change.

Operation Noah represents an inclusive group of committed Christians from across Britain and trustees and staff are cross-denominational, drawn from the Catholic, Anglican and free churches, and from across the theological spectrum. Operation Noah's initial funding came through sizeable donations from grant-making foundations and private individuals.

2006-2009: Making an impact

At the end of 2006, Ann Pettifor became Director for Operation Noah, advising on strategy and maintaining executive oversight of the organisation and its campaign. Along with campaign strategist Mark Dowd, Ann achieved a high profile for Operation Noah, with a strong focus on advocacy, and a reputation for 'punching above its weight'.

During this period Operation Noah was active in several areas:

Lifestyles: as a symbolic step towards Low-Carbon Christian Living, Operation Noah launched its Reclaim Christmas campaign in the autumn of 2008. The campaign was launched by the Bishop of Birmingham, with a major series of events in his community.

Education and young people: outreach work included visits to around 25 schools around the country, reaching 3,500 young people.

Campaigning: Operation Noah's ARK campaign events, including Cardiff, London and Doncaster, brought together churches and other faith groups, local schools, local authorities and campaigning organisations including WWF, Oxfam and Christian Aid.

Liturgical and theological resources: Operation Noah produced a number of liturgical and theological resources for church leaders and communities, including Between the Flood and the Rainbow - A Study Guide on Climate Change for adult groups; Climate Change and Creation: An Operation Noah Briefing on the Theology of Climate Change, for use by clergy, teachers and Bible study leaders; and a Church Action Starter Pack.

Advocacy: Operation Noah played a key role in organising the speakers for the Environmental Plenary of the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in 2009. Operation Noah, along with other NGOs, was invited to participate in meetings at Downing Street with the Prime Minister and his adviser on climate change.

Partnerships: Operation Noah worked in partnership with other Christian agencies in organising the very successful ecumenical Wave Service in December 2009. In October 2009, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, gave the Operation Noah Annual Lecture at Southwark Cathedral, speaking on 'The Climate Crisis: A Christian Response'.

2010-2011: Becoming a charity

During 2010 Operation Noah worked towards gaining charitable status. This was granted, bringing many benefits but also a need to refocus to meet the requirements of the Charity Commission. At the same time, the organisation down-sized and moved towards becoming self-financing through membership donations. Ann Pettifor stepped down as Director but was invited to become Operation Noah's strategic adviser.

The organisation continued to build its church resources, developing and launching a compelling Carbon Exodus project and associated Oil Fast initiative packed with web based resources and ideas for churches and individuals. Board members spoke at church events around the country and featured in articles in the church press.

During 2011, Operation Noah hosted a seminar led by a distinguished Canadian academic and climate change activist Professor Lynn McDonald, and an annual lecture given by Professor Tim Gorringe of Exeter University, arguing that Climate change is a confessional issue for the churches.

Among the objectives that emerged from the 2011 Board Away Day were to develop a theological response to the threat of climate change and to recover our prophetic edge in communicating the injustice of the global situation. This led to the establishment, under Bishop David Atkinson, an Operation Noah Theology Group which is working on some cutting edge, Barmen-style, responses to the climate crisis – prophetic and practical.