By Clare Fussell, Operation Noah’s Campaign Director 

After more than ten years of prayer, persistence and prophetic witness, we are delighted to celebrate the culmination of our award-winning Bright Now campaign – a movement which has helped shift nearly every UK denomination away from fossil fuel investments. Together, we have helped to make tens of billions of pounds off-limits to the industry driving global heating. 

Check out this fantastic short film that tells the story of the campaign’s success.

This remarkable achievement is not just ours: Christian campaigners have cycled hundreds of miles, prayed outside places of worship, circulated letters, submitted motions and pleaded with Church leaders to stop funding fossil fuels. And as a result, the Church is standing up and making it clear that these companies are not operating in good faith, and prioritising expansion and profit over the urgent need to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

This month, we are especially pleased to announce that the Diocese of Chichester has fully divested from BP and Shell and no longer holds any fossil fuel investments. Chichester is the final Church of England diocese to divest. With this decisive step, all 42 Church of England dioceses, along with the Church’s National Investing Bodies – including the Pensions Board and Church Commissioners – have joined the vast majority of other UK denominations in being free from fossil fuel investments.

This marks the completion of a journey we began over a decade ago. Through our Bright Now campaign, Operation Noah has worked with Churches across the UK to confront the moral implications of fossil fuel investment and to support the transition toward ethical stewardship. 

But divestment has never been only about moving money out of harmful industries. It has also been about calling Christians to examine whether our financial decisions reflect our deepest values. The UK Church has now spoken with a powerful collective voice: fossil fuels are not an ethical investment, and they belong in the same category as arms, tobacco and gambling – industries incompatible with the flourishing of God’s creation.

Investing in Climate Solutions

As we draw the Bright Now campaign to a close, honoured to have received ‘Campaign of the Year at the SMK National Campaigner Awards last year, we are turning toward the future. The next faithful step is not only divesting from harm, but investing in the healing of God’s earth.

That is why we are inviting denominations and faith groups around the world to sign our Green Investment Declaration, and increase their investments in climate solutions to help build a greener future. By signing up to this initiative, Church investment bodies not only make a direct impact through their investments but, by speaking publicly about it, encourage others to do likewise, widening the impact. Encouraging a commitment of at least 5% of Christian investment portfolios dedicated to climate solutions, we can accelerate the clean-energy transition and inspire a global movement that hastens the end of the fossil fuel era.

Looking Ahead to 2026

We have an exciting year ahead, and we’d love you to journey with us. As well as continuing to support churches and Christians to make their money work for God’s creation and use their land for the benefit of climate and nature, we’re also planning a series of events to make progress in these crucial areas. Plans for 2026 include a Lenten service with Andy Flannagan, an Annual Lecture in partnership with Greenbelt, and a Church Green Investment Roadshow, developed with our partners at JustMoney Movement. So watch this space!

Each of these events will help equip churches, dioceses and Christian investors to lead the way in shaping a fairer, cleaner future for God’s world. Finally, if you would like to give to our Advent Appeal to help fund this vital work, we would be incredibly grateful.