The Revd Fiona Bennett, Moderator of the United Reformed Church (URC) General Assembly, has joined 450 other Christian leaders in challenging the government’s decision to approve a new, deep coal mine in West Cumbria.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove, the Church leaders and Christian environmental campaigners urged the UK government to rethink its approval of the new coal mine, which received the go-ahead last week although it threatens the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5ºC.
Coordinated by Young Christian Climate Network and supported by Operation Noah and Christian Aid, the leaders state in the letter, published on 14 December:
“We acknowledge that this region needs investment, but the government is supporting a dying industry instead of securing sustainable green jobs for the long term.
“We know that every pound of investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than in the fossil fuel industry. Coal from this mine will continue to heat up the planet, pollute the atmosphere, and most severely impact those in the world’s poorest countries who have done the least to cause the climate crisis. We lament this great injustice.”
Simeon Mitchell, URC Secretary for Church and Society, explains why the URC is supporting this issue.
“Since 2019, the General Assembly’s policy has been to advocate for the managed decline of fossil fuel production as part of a rapid transition to a net zero carbon economy.
“Building new infrastructure to extract more fossil fuels from the ground runs completely counter to our national commitment to work towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and the advice of the government’s own expert advisors on climate change.
“Instead, we would want to see investment in creating sustainable green energy jobs in Cumbria, rather than short term ones which will contribute to increased greenhouse gas emissions.”
The URC’s own Environmental Policy, which comes into effect in January 2023, commits the church to a journey towards net zero emissions by 2030.
Last year, the International Energy Agency said there could be no new fossil fuel developments anywhere in the world if global heating were to be limited to 1.5ºC – the internationally agreed upon goal – while research from Carbon Tracker has found that 90% of fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground as unburnable carbon in order to limit global heating to 1.5ºC.
The open letter from Church leaders and campaigners quotes a 2018 lecture that Michael Gove gave to the Christian think tank Theos in which he said, “Christians are called to remember their rightful place within Creation – and the vast web of life it created – and their responsibility to protect and defend it.”
The leaders go on to urge “the UK government to practise what (Gove) preached by keeping coal in the ground and investing in a sustainable future”.
The Revd Simon Walkling, Moderator of the National Synod of Wales also signed the letter along with seven other URC minsters and lay staff.
The letter and full list of signatories can be found here.
Image: Niolay Kovalenko/Unsplash.