As UK Christians prepare to host a ‘No Faith in Fossil Fuels’ service and begin a 24-hour prayer vigil in Whitehall on Ash Wednesday, leaders from Norway’s national church speak out about plans to extract North Sea oil by Equinor which is majority-owned by the Norwegian government 

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Photos of Ash Wednesday’s ‘No Faith in Fossil Fuels’ prayer vigil will be added here on 5-6 March

3 March 2025: A dozen bishops from the Church of Norway – the country’s national church – are opposing the proposed North Sea Rosebank oil field, which is being developed by Equinor, a Norwegian oil and gas company that is majority-owned by the Norwegian government. 

‘I support the fight against Equinor’s Rosebank oil field,’ said Rt Revd Ingeborg Midttømme, a bishop in the Church of Norway whose diocese is partnered with the Church of England’s Diocese of Newcastle. ‘We are a long way away from the UN’s Sustainability Goals and the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming to 1.5˚C…for the sake of humanity’s future, investment in and development of renewable energy is key’. 

Norwegian bishop Rt Revd Gunnar Stålsett said the ‘Rosebank project undermines Norway’s climate goals…Christians and others who see the protection of creation as a moral imperative have to stand together to stop this and other projects that threaten our common climate.’

The bishops’ intervention comes just days before UK Christians hold an Ash Wednesday ‘No Faith in Fossil Fuels’ service in London backed by a number of Christian charities, including Operation Noah, Christian Climate Action, Green Christian and Christian Aid, followed by a 24-hour prayer vigil outside the Department of Net Zero and Energy Security in Whitehall. 

The decision by the previous UK government to greenlight Rosebank was ruled unlawful by the Court of Session in Edinburgh in January on the basis that Rosebank’s permit was granted without taking into account the emissions from the oil that would be extracted and burned. The UK government must now make a decision as to whether to issue a new permit for Rosebank. 

UK Christians have long opposed Rosebank and all new oil and gas due to it being incompatible with limiting global heating to 1.5˚C, not lowering energy bills and not providing energy security, with 90 percent of Rosebank’s oil expected to be exported and sold on the international market. 

In 2023, 400+ UK Christian leaders – including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the Archbishop of Glasgow, Rt Revd William Nolan, one of the UK’s most senior Catholic leaders – called on then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to stop Rosebank. In December 2024, Christian campaigners delivered a dead Christmas tree to the Norwegian Embassy in London in response to the Norwegian government’s unwillingness to denounce Rosebank.

Analysts say Rosebank will create more greenhouse gas emissions than the combined annual emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries in the world. ‘If oil production at Rosebank is realised, the climate crisis will be worsened even more. This is not a development towards a sustainable future. I therefore support British Christians who are asking that we leave Rosebank oil in the ground,’ said Rt Revd Halvor Nordhaug from the Church of Norway.

Operation Noah is a Christian charity working to inspire the Church to take action on the climate and nature crises. In addition to encouraging faith groups to divest from fossil fuels, Operation Noah works with Churches around the world to invest in climate solutions alongside implementing better land use practices. Learn more at www.operationnoah.org. 

Christian Climate Action is a community of Christians taking meaningful action in the face of climate breakdown. Learn more at www.christianclimateaction.org.

Green Christian is a group of ordinary Christians from all backgrounds and traditions. Inspired by our faith, we do what we can to care for creation through prayer, living simply, public witness, campaigning and mutual encouragement. Learn more at www.greenchristian.org.uk.