Faith leaders have called on the UK government to step up international efforts to encourage the phasing out of fossil fuels. Senior representatives of the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union and the United Reformed Church have co-signed a letter asking Ed Miliband, as Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero, to personally attend the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels later this month. The international summit is being co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands in Santa Marta, Colombia. This letter argues that the presence of the Secretary of State would convey a clear message of support from the UK for this new multilateral movement, and aid vital work to agree a detailed roadmap for a transition away from fossil fuels that is fast, fair, and funded.
The UK has a proud history of international climate leadership, with Ed Miliband himself having observed last autumn that ‘We are up against the march of time and massive global forces that would slow down or stop action. In the face of this opposition, multilateralism is our best hope.’ The faith leaders say that ‘Your words encouraged us […and] we encourage you to put them into action with fellow climate leaders in Santa Marta.’
In an appendix to the letter, the leaders explain their shared motivation in issuing the call, saying “To be good carers of our common home, we must act quickly and phase out the production of fossil fuels… It is a moral imperative to protect those most in need and to uphold the rights of future generations and the whole earth by employing renewable sources of energy.”
Rev’d Canon Giles Goddard, Chair of Faith for the Climate and signatory of the letter, said ‘It’s really important that the UK continues its record of climate leadership by working with climate allies. In the face of a fossil fuel crisis, this conference is vital to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, and ensure that it is fast, fair and funded.’
‘Ed Miliband’s attendance would show the UK is serious about climate justice and wants to work together, especially with the countries most impacted by the climate crisis. As Ed said himself, ‘You can’t solve a fossil fuel crisis by doubling down on fossil fuels.’ Santa Marta is a key opportunity to bring on ‘the era of clean energy security’’
This conference has the support of many fellow climate leaders, such as the nations who signed the Belem Declaration on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, a statement made at the conclusion of COP30 on the next steps in the fight for climate justice. This includes small island states especially at risk from climate change, such as Fiji and Jamaica, as well as close European allies of the UK, such as Spain and Austria. It also includes the co-host of COP31, Australia. These countries have welcomed the Santa Marta Conference ‘as a platform to advance the dialogues to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels after COP30.’ Several nations attending are major fossil fuel producers, including Colombia itself, as well as Canada, Brazil and Norway.
The initiative follows on from JPIT’s previous work in support of a Fossil Fuel Treaty, and would represent an important step in furthering international discussions on climate change. The UNFCCC COP talks have struggled to maintain a focus on the phase-out of fossil fuels, despite it being referred to in the outcomes of COP28. This conference, independently organised by like-minded countries with high climate ambitions from Global South and North, would help to keep fossil fuel phase-out on the agenda as we look towards COP31 later this year.
The full text of the letter is below:
Dear Ed Miliband
First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels
As UK faith leaders and representatives from many faiths, beliefs and traditions, we are writing to you ahead of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands in Santa Marta, Colombia in the last week of April. In light of the ongoing energy crisis, this conference is vital for developing energy security and access for the UK and our allies, and a key opportunity for the UK to demonstrate its climate leadership.
Multilateralism and leadership
We are writing to ask you:
- To convey a clear message of support from the UK to make the most of this new multilateral movement, including sending a signal of leadership by personally attending the High-Level Segment at the end of the conference
- To work to agree a detailed roadmap for a transition away from fossil fuels that is fast, fair, and funded
- To commit the UK’s fair share of funding for the transition.
As you wrote in your Guardian column after COP30, ‘Clean energy and climate action remain the foundation on which the global economy is being remade and rebuilt. We are up against the march of time and massive global forces that would slow down or stop action. In the face of this opposition, multilateralism is our best hope.
‘We have seen the emergence of an impressive coalition of 83 countries from the global north and global south’ to create ‘a roadmap to help countries transition away from fossil fuels and scale up clean energy.’
‘Detailed negotiations matter, but the movements we build around them profoundly influence what can be delivered.’
Your words encouraged us, and reflect the UK’s climate leadership through the phase out of coal mining, and prohibitions on further exploration of oil and gas. We encourage you to put them into action with fellow climate leaders in Santa Marta.
A just transition away from fossil fuels is very important to the faith communities, and we would value a meeting with civil servants, and perhaps the Special Representative on Climate, to discuss our shared experiences and perspectives on the transition.
Yours sincerely,
Rev’d Lynn Green – General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain
Rev’d Dr David Gregory – Convenor of BUEN, Baptist Union Environmental Network
Rev’d Richard Andrew – President of Conference, Methodist Church of Great Britain
Matthew Forsyth – Vice President of Conference, Methodist Church of Great Britain
Catriona Wheeler – General Assembly Moderator, United Reformed Church
Bishop John Arnold – Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, Diocese of Salford
Jo Chamberlain – Trustee of Faith for the Climate
Sue Curd – Trustee of Faith for the Climate
George Dow – Chair, Green Christian
Rev’d Canon Giles Goddard – Chair of Faith for the ClimateRt Rev’d Olivia Graham – Former Bishop of Reading, Church of England
Rev’d Dr Darrell Hannah – Chair, Operation Noah
Ann Howell, Social Action Officer – UK Unitarians
Dr Christopher Ives – Trustee of Faith for the Climate, and Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Nottingham
Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal – Trustee of the Faith for the Climate
Colette Joyce – Trustee of Faith for the Climate
Melanie Nazareth – Christian Climate Action
Paul Parker – Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain
Dr Sachi Patel – Trustee of Faith for the Climate
Trupti Patel – President Hindu Forum of Britain and Trustee of Faith for the Climate
Lucy Plummer – Trustee of Faith for the Climate
Chief Imam Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi FRSA – Trustee of Faith for the Climate
Dr Shanon Shah – Director of Faith for the Climate
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg – Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK, Rabbi of New North London Synagogue
Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers – Trustee of Faith for the Climate
Appendix: Faith, Love and Climate Justice
As people of faith and belief, we share a determination to honour the beauty of this Earth, created in all its variety, vitality, beauty and abundance. We lament that neglect, exploitation, and unsustainable consumption that threaten the natural balanceand very existence of diverse life on earth. The continued use of coal, oil and gas risks overshooting the Paris Agreement’s goal of 1.5ºC, and carries the costs of local pollution, environmental degradation, and health impacts associated with extracting, refining, transporting, and burning fossil fuels.
These costs are disproportionately paid by those who are most vulnerable to, and least historically responsible for, the consequences of climate change - lives lost, homes and farms destroyed, and millions of people displaced. It is a moral imperative to protect those most in need and to uphold the rights of future generations and the whole earth by employing renewable sources of energy.
Secretary of State, as you have repeatedly emphasised, the science which spells out this most urgent danger facing humanity is undeniable. To be good carers of our common home, we must act quickly and phase out the production of fossil fuels, with justice and equity for Indigenous peoples, those already assaulted by climate impacts, workers in the fossil fuel industries, and all people everywhere. As people of faith and belief united together in taking positive action for the sake of our planet and all its inhabitants, it is love that compels us.