Sometimes things are moving so fast and there is so much we are desperate to change, that we miss the opportunity to step back, take a breath and appreciate what we have achieved.

As we approach the end of the year, lets do that together…

First of all, we want to thank everyone who has taken action to protect our beautiful planet. You are all magnificent. It is hard doing activism around our jobs, families and other life commitments. Let’s hold each other in love as we go into Christmas time – wherever we are around this country and the globe.

In Christian Climate Action we work in different ways. Some of the protests we carry out we do on our own. However, most of the actions we take are as part of a wider movement of protestors and campaigning groups. We therefore, aren’t trying to take credit for the below, but more we are wanting to celebrate what we all do as part of the wider ecosystem of change-makers.

We can’t list all the campaign victories here. But here are some of the ones which make our hearts the warmest:

The Agreement of a Loss and Damage fund: Christian Climate Action have stood alongside some of the amazing groups who were pushing for a loss and damage fund to be set up at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 this year. This is a much needed fund which aims to facilitate the process of richer, polluting countries paying for the loss and damage they are inflicting on poorer countries through climate change. In November, at the climate summit, this vital fund was agreed which is a huge victory for climate justice.

HSBC and Lloyds are stopping funding new oil and gas projects: We have been standing alongside groups such as Money Rebellion in highlighting the financing of fossil fuel projects by banks. There has been a growing understanding that if we want to tackle the climate crisis, we need to cut of the money supply! In October Lloyds bank announced that it is stopping it’s funding of new oil and gas projects. And just this week HSBC announced the same. The HSBC statement reads ‘In line with the policy, we will no longer provide new lending or capital markets finance for the specific purpose of projects pertaining to new oil and gas fields and related infrastructure when the primary use is in conjunction with new fields’. As Lloyds and HSBC are two of the big players in the banking sector, this is really great news as it puts increased pressure from other banks, such as Barclays, to follow suit.

Church of England’s 2030 net zero target: In 2020, CCA held a vigil outside of the Church of England’s Synod (council) in London. At this Synod, the Church of England’s net zero emissions target was being debated. The Church of England’s Live Lent environmental campaign proposed a 2045 net-zero carbon target. However, the Synod instead voted instead for an amendment brought forward by the Diocese of Bristol. This meant that the Church of England set an ambitious target to become net-zero by 2030, bringing forward its initial proposed target by fifteen years.

Diocese divesting from fossil fuels: It is notable that the Church of England centrally, has refused to divest from fossil fuels, much to the confusion and regret of Anglicans across the country. While this is regrettable, it is important to note that there is a much more hopefully story coming from the diocesan level.

Christian Climate Action have carried out prayerful protests in Cathedrals across the UK, urging diocese to divest from fossil fuels. And the progress so far is that 31 out of 42 diocese have divested from fossil fuels. The most recent of these being Manchester, Gloucester and St Albans diocese. We would also like to give special appreciation to our friends Operation Noah who have also done incredible and hard work encouraging diocese to divest.

Insulate Britain: Many members of Christian Climate Action have been involved in the Insulate Britain campaign. Although is was widely critiqued at the time, the government has been forced to agree that the energy efficiency of Britain’s leaky homes is not good enough as we face a cost of living crisis and climate crisis combined. And now the UK Government has announced it will offer an extra £1billion in grants to insulate homes across the country from early 2023.

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