September 1st to October 4th is the Season of Creation, a time for Christians to renew their relationship with our Creator and all creation.

As part of the Season of Creation, this week Christians have held a week long vigil and sent a letter to Anders Opedal, President & CEO of Equinor ASA – urging Equinor to withdraw from developing the Rosebank oil field and accusing them of shutting down climate debate.

The open letter, which can be found here, follows the week of protest outside Equinor HQ in Paddington, from Monday 9th Sept to Friday 13th Sept. On the final day of this protest, the leaflets given to staff members entering the building were confiscated by staff security.

Around a dozen individuals protested at the entrance to the building across the week, with an “Equinor must stop Rosebank” banner and other signs. Rosebank is the largest undeveloped oil field in the UK with the capacity to produce 500 million barrels of oil and give rise to 200 million tonnes of additional CO2 emissions.

Earlier this month the UK government announced it will not fight a legal challenge against the decision to grant consent to Rosebank oil field, off Shetland and Aberdeen. The government’s decision does not mean the licences for Rosebank have been withdrawn. And Equinor is continuing to defend the legal challenges against Rosebank, despite the UK government’s position.

Mark Francis, a member of protest group Christian Climate Action which organised the week long vigil, took part in the protest and witnessed the security team confiscating leaflets from people entering the building. He said: “It seems that Equinor was trying to stop people reading the leaflets, and therefore attempting to close down discussion about this important issue. This is shameful behaviour from a company majority-owned by the Norwegian Government. It appears to undermine the much-admired Norwegian values of democratic debate.”

“Given the impact that Rosebank will have on the climate and environment, we urge Equinor to withdraw from developing Rosebank and invest further in renewables.”