Dear Friends,
With European security understandably dominating the headlines, it’s easy to forget, in the midst of debates about Ukraine’s future, how integral energy is to UK and European security.
Relying on volatile international fossil fuel markets – especially when many of the largest fossil fuel producing countries, including Russia, are anti-democratic states – is a dangerous game.
Even states like Norway – a majority shareholder in oil and gas company, Equinor, which is still trying to win UK approval for its Rosebank oil field – isn’t interested in UK energy security; indeed, it’s estimated 90 percent of the oil extracted from Rosebank would be exported and sold on the international market. The UK wouldn’t own the oil; Equinor and its partners would.
On the other hand, renewable energy is more likely to be decentralised, is cheaper for consumers, avoids supporting violent petrostates and doesn’t cause global heating. And as Lent begins, we’re working with UK Christians and the Stop Rosebank campaign to put an end to all new oil and gas fields in the UK, including and especially to Rosebank, the largest of those fields. And we’re continuing to encourage Churches to scale up investment in climate solutions.
