Bright Now

At the end of February, Bright Now Campaign Officer Sharon Hall joined our friends Margot Hodson from John Ray Initiative (JRI) and Alan Radbourne from UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) to give a talk hosted by Hazelnut Community Farm in Bristol. The webinar was recorded and is available to watch via YouTube here.

Since the start of 2023, the Church of England Dioceses of London, Lichfield and Rochester have all announced their divestment from fossil fuel companies, while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton announced its divestment today (28 February) – the very same day that Operation Noah called attention to Northampton’s lack of a divestment commitment, though the diocese was quick to note that it first made the decision to divest back in October 2022.

At the start of 2023, 40 dioceses across England and Wales (27 in the CofE and 13 in the Catholic Church) had yet to make a commitment to divest from fossil fuels. Making a divestment commitment involves committing to sell any investments in fossil fuel companies and not to invest in these companies in the future. This Lent, we will highlight a particular diocese on each of the 40 days and encourage Christians to take action, calling on Church leaders and investors to make changes.

On Tuesday 22 November, over 100 people joined us for a webinar launching our new report, Church Investment in Climate Solutions: Financing a Liveable Future.

Our new Bright Now report, Church Investment in Climate Solutions: Financing a Liveable Future, calls on Churches to play a vital role in accelerating a fair and fast transition by investing in climate solutions.

As world leaders gather for the UN climate talks, COP27, held in Egypt this year, three more Church of England dioceses have made commitments to divest from fossil fuels. In the last few weeks, the Dioceses of Manchester, St Albans and Gloucester have made fossil fuel divestment commitments at Diocesan Synod meetings.