Ahead of the government’s Spring Statement and energy security strategy, more than 500 church leaders wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak urging them to tackle the climate emergency, address the cost of living crisis and stop all new fossil fuel developments, as the International Energy Agency says we must do in order to limit global heating to 1.5C.
The letter, signed by the Revd Clare Downing, Moderator of the United Reformed Church General Assembly, says: “We call on you to use the Spring Statement to provide financial and fiscal support for renewable energy and energy efficiency, especially solar and wind energy and the retrofitting of homes and other buildings across the UK. These measures would reduce heating bills, decrease carbon emissions and increase our energy security.”
The Church leaders also called on the government to implement a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies in order to address the cost of living crisis and for a halt to new oil and gas developments. They wrote: “The Spring Statement must include no support for new oil and gas developments. The International Energy Agency has stated that there can be no new fossil fuel developments if we are to limit global heating to 1.5°C. New oil and gas production will not deliver lower energy bills for families facing fuel poverty and will have no impact on energy supply for years.
“We urge you to increase support for vulnerable households across the UK facing a cost of living crisis as a result of increasing food and energy prices, through measures including a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.”
Several URC Synod Moderators also signed the letter, as well as Church leaders from the Church of England, Catholic Church, Methodist Church, United Reformed Church, Church in Wales, Church of Scotland, Scottish Episcopal Church, Baptist Union and Quakers in Britain.
The letter can be read in full here.