Climate Protestors Deliver Dead Christmas Tree to Norwegian Embassy to Protest Rosebank Oil Field

·         Oil company Equinor is majority-owned by Norwegian govt

·         Equinor planning to drill Rosebank oil field

·         Norway gifts the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree to the UK each year

·         Trafalgar Square Christmas tree light switch-on tomorrow (Thursday)

For immediate release

Tree delivery happened 2pm on Wednesday 4^th December

Photos available at (Credit Christian Climate Action): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lgztZJpM2dYPQDJCLgg3QnM0zjqLcvhi?usp=sharing

On the eve of the Christmas tree lights switch on in Trafalgar Square, a group of Christians have presented a dead Christmas tree to the Norwegian embassy as a climate protest against plans to drill the Rosebank Oil field.

The official Christmas tree, standing in Trafalgar Square, is a gift each year which comes from Norway to the UK, and is lit-up on the first Thursday of December. The dead tree, delivered to the Norwegian Embassy today by members of Christian Climate Action, is a return gesture to the Norwegian government. The Norwegian government majority-owns the oil company Equinor, which is currently fighting a legal battle to develop the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.

Judith Russenberger, a mother of three, was part of the group delivering the tree to the Norwegian Embassy. She said: “The dead tree we delivered to the Norwegian embassy represents the fact that our planet is facing death and destruction due to climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.”

Rosebank is the largest untapped oil field in the UK and is situated off the Shetland coast in the North Atlantic. In September 2023, the previous UK government made the decision to approve the development of Rosebank [1]. A legal challenge by environmental groups Greenpeace and Uplift regarding this decision was given the go-ahead by the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The court case began in November 2024, with the outcome expected by Feb 2025. If it finds the decision on the Rosebank oilfield to be unlawful, the Labour government will have to reconsider the decision made in Sept 2023. A UK Government Oil & Gas consultation that concludes in Q2 2025 will create the guidance for re-making the Rosebank decision.

Revd James Grote, a Baptist Minister from Oxford, was involved in delivering the tree. He said: “Fossil fuels are killing our planet, people, wildlife and land. That’s what this dead tree represents, and we are giving it to the Norwegian embassy on the day before their gift of a tree in Trafalgar Square is lit up.  That tree is given to thank the UK for its help during the dark days of the Second World War.  It’s a wonderful gift that brings joy to millions, but the Christmas story is not all about fairy lights, trees and presents.  It’s about God coming in a baby born in a shed to a soon to be refugee family who are miles from home. It’s about facing the darkness and seeing that light and hope can come in.  We face a real and present darkness in the climate emergency, that we’ve seen firsthand in Storm Bert.  The Norwegian government and Equinor stopping Rosebank would bring real light and hope.”

Along with the Christmas tree, the groups delivered a letter to the Ambassador of Norway. An extract of this letter reads: “Developing Rosebank stands in stark contrast to the urgent warnings from climate scientists that any new oil and gas projects threaten our ability to limit catastrophic global warming. The Co2 emissions from this one oil field could equate to the annual emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries combined, which are home to more than 700 million people. This is a gift that will only lead to more death and destruction to the planet”

-ENDS-

NOTES:

1.      OPRED. Rosebank Field Development. Project Summary (2023).