For our final newsletter of 2024 – a year in which we celebrated two decades of inspiring the Church to take action on the climate crisis – we thought it would be appropriate to compile 20 highlights from our 20 years of climate campaigning: 10 from our entire history, 10 from 2024. 

Of course, there is no campaigning without you: your financial support, grassroots activism and commitment to caring for God’s creation is what keeps us going and what allowed us to win the prestigious ‘Campaign of the Year’ award at the National Campaigner Awards in May. 

If you’re inspired by all that we have achieved together and want to make a financial gift to Operation Noah, we are still trying to raise £20,000 by the end of the year as part of our Anniversary Appeal – and we are nearly three quarters of the way there. You can donate here. 

Finally, from all of us at Operation Noah, we want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to campaigning with you in 2025. 

1. Ash Wednesday Declaration/ ‘Climate Change and the Purposes of God’ 

Early in our history, Operation Noah published the Ash Wednesday Declaration – also known as ‘Climate Change and the Purposes of God: A Call to the Church’ – which was signed by senior UK Church leaders from the Church of England, Roman Catholic Church, Church of Scotland, Church in Wales, Methodist Church of Great Britain, United Reformed Church and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The declaration was also signed by global faith leaders from outside the UK, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Read the text here.

2. ‘40 Days, 40 Dioceses’ Campaign 

During Lent 2023, climate campaigners prayed for the 40 Church of England and Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales that had yet to make a fossil fuel divestment commitment to do so, amplifying the call with online videos made by Christian climate campaigners calling on their dioceses to divest. By Easter 2023, five more Church of England dioceses and one Catholic diocese had made a divestment commitment.

3. Over £20 Billion Off Limits to Fossil Fuels 

In ten years of faith-based climate campaigning, nearly 600 global faith institutions have made a fossil fuel divestment commitment – and Operation Noah has doggedly campaigned for UK Churches and faith groups to join this number. Nearly all UK denominations have now divested from fossil fuels, with the 10 largest denominations – which are responsible for over £20bn in assets under management, with £13.6bn of those assets managed by the Church of England’s National Investing Bodies alone – having divested. Pressure is now building for Churches to invest in climate solutions as part of our Green Investment Declaration. 

4. ‘Financing a Liveable Future’ Conference 

In 2023, Operation Noah hosted the ‘Financing a Liveable Future’ conference in Central London with our partners FaithInvest. That conference is now available to watch online and has been edited down into a series of themed videos which explore how Churches can not just take their money out of fossil fuels, but also invest in the clean energy transition and a liveable future. The conference features contributions from Dr Martin Hodson (John Ray Institute), Mike Sturgess (Truro Diocesan Board of Finance), Paul Jaffe (Head of Sustainability, Church Commissioners for England), Dr Lorna Gold (CEO, FaithInvest) and others. Watch here. 

5. Baked Alaska Play Tours UK 

In 2015, Operation Noah commissioned the Riding Lights Theatre Company to produce a satirical play called Baked Alaska that used humour and storytelling to address the urgent issue of climate change. Baked Alaska toured widely across the UK, with performances in churches and cathedrals, including Coventry Cathedral and Lichfield Cathedral, and was widely praised for its reach and impact. 

6. ‘Pilgrimage to Paris’ 

In the lead up to COP21, Operation Noah was part of the faith coalition behind the ‘Pilgrimage to Paris’ – a group that walked from St Martin-in-the-Fields in Central London to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris. Some of these climate pilgrims have since served as Operation Noah staff or trustees, and carry with them the pilgrimage’s spirit of activism and prayer. The eyes of the world were on COP21 negotiators as they hammered out what became known as the ‘Paris Agreement’ – a legally binding treaty compelling signatories to keep global temperature rise to below 2C, with the ambition of limiting global heating to 1.5C. 

7. Launch Service at Coventry Cathedral

Operation Noah was officially launched in Coventry on 9 October 2004 with a conference and service at Coventry Cathedral. Hundreds of Christians from various denominations made a covenant in which they promised to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. After the conference, delegates marched from Methodist Central Hall to the cathedral waving rainbow flags and led by a large model ark. The launch event, backed by Archbishop David Hope and Cardinal Cormac O’Murphy, garnered national media attention. 

8. Tenants of the King Bible Study 

In 2018, Operation Noah published Tenants of the King, an interactive Bible study designed to inspire Christians to take action on the climate crisis – a course which includes contributions from Ruth Valerio, Revd Graham Tomlin and Dr Justin Thacker. Since 2018, over 1500 Tenants copies have been purchased and the course has been run in hundreds of UK churches. 

9. Climate Sunday

Climate Sunday – which was first proposed by Operation Noah as a way of getting churches to incorporate the climate crisis into their Sunday worship services and theological teaching – grew into an initiative backed by most UK denominations and many Christian charities. In the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, over 2,200 churches in Britain and Ireland held a Climate Sunday service alongside committing to practical climate action and speaking up for climate justice.

10. Campaign and Supporter Events 

We’ve held many successful campaign and supporter events over the years, including online and hybrid events which were crucial during the pandemic. At COP26, we sponsored an in-person event which was also live-streamed called, ‘Fossil Fuel Divestment, Climate Justice and a Just Transition for All’ with contributions from Mark Campanale (Founder of Carbon Tracker), Rt Revd Olivia Graham (Bishop of Reading), Pastor Ray Minniecon (Australian indigenous pastor) and Sally Foster Fulton (Head of Christian Aid Scotland). Another powerful event was our 2022 ‘Alternatives to Fossil Fuelled Violence: Listening to our Global Neighbours’ online Supporters’ Event, with speakers from Ukraine, South Africa and Mozambique.

Highlights from 2024

1. Operation Noah Wins ‘Campaign of the Year’ at SMK National Campaigner Awards 

We were thrilled to receive the prestigious ‘Campaign of the Year’ award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation in May 2024 for our Bright Now campaign as part of the National Campaigner Awards. The award recognised not only the campaign’s success in getting UK Churches and faith groups to stop funding fossil fuels, but the tireless and passionate work of Christians up and down the UK. Thank you for all your support which made the award possible! 

2. 20 Year Anniversary Service at St John’s Waterloo 

In November 2024, we celebrated our 20 Year Anniversary with a service at St John’s Waterloo in Central London. It was a joyful and inspiring event attended by over 150 supporters, former staff and trustees, with Dr Rowan Williams delivering the address. The event finished with Operation Noah co-founders Ruth Jarman and Paul Bodenham cutting the anniversary cake alongside Dr Rowan Williams and our Chair of Trustees, Revd Dr Darrell Hannah. Read more about the service here and watch the anniversary film we created here. 

3. Tree Planting Event at All Saints Ascot 

Operation Noah staff and trustees were delighted to join a wonderful service at All Saints Ascot in October which included a tree-planting ceremony. We are hoping others will also plant a tree to celebrate our anniversary or as a way of making better use of Church land. Read more.

4. Launch of the Green Investment Declaration 

In June 2024, we launched our Green Investment Declaration to encourage Church investment in climate solutions. A natural next step from divesting from fossil fuels is to think carefully about how Church funds can make a positive climate impact, and this declaration both encourages positive Church investments as well as encourages Church leaders to speak up about the need for more private and public finance in this area. Has your church or diocese signed up yet?

5. Movement on Church Land Use Campaign 

It was good to see the Church of England adopt the Land and Nature motion at the February 2024 General Synod – a motion we supported and one that raised the profile of biodiversity. We’ve also recently created Church resources on growing trees and protecting peatland. 

6. Launch of ‘Greenopoly’ at Greenbelt Festival 

We’ve really enjoyed creating our ‘Greenopoly’ game as a way of getting people to think about climate solutions and the need for green investment. Launched at this year’s Greenbelt Festival, the board game has proven popular and is now available to download on our website!

7. 27 Faith Institutions Divest from Fossil Fuels  

On 12 November, 27 faith institutions, including the Anglican dioceses of Blackburn and Guildford, announced their divestment from fossil fuel companies. In collaboration with Laudato Si’ Movement, Green Anglicans, GreenFaith, and the World Council of Churches, Operation Noah has organised several Global Divestment Announcements for faith institutions. Read more.

8. Climate and Nature Bill + Additional Mainstream Climate Campaigning 

Operation Noah is a small charity which makes a big impact, and one of the ways we do that is by joining in with mainstream climate campaigns, including the push for the Climate and Nature bill, which we recently promoted as part of a special webinar. We are also members of other climate and environmental coalitions – from the Stop Rosebank campaign to the Warm This Winter fuel poverty coalition – and see our role as encouraging Christians to get involved. 

9. Prayer for the Climate Outside Parliament 

In February 2024, we took part in a 10-day ‘No Faith in Fossil Fuels’ prayer vigil outside Parliament, praying for an end to the fossil fuel era. Over the years, Operation Noah has organised prayer vigils at significant moments and places, working with partners like Christian Aid, CAFOD, Tearfund and Christian Climate Action. Together, we have prayed outside of oil company headquarters, Church House, and Lambeth Palace.

10. Big Bank Switch 

This past year we launched a campaign calling on Christians to align their money with their values by switching from a bank that funds planet-destroying fossil fuels to one that doesn’t. Many of the UK’s large high street banks are still funding fossil fuels, but there are banks that don’t. The ‘Big Bank Switch’ campaign aligns with a growing awareness on the part of Christian charities and individual Christians that UK banks are directly funding climate chaos.