Christian Climate Action members held a candlelit faith vigil outside the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on the evening of Monday 28th September 2026. They were lamenting the impacts of climate change and calling on the Government not to approve new oilfield Rosebank.
The vigil took place as delegates to the Labour Party Conference were walking to their evening activities. Adura (a joint venture between Norwegian company Equinor and Shell) and Ithaca (majority owned by Israeli fuel conglomerate, Delek Group) have made an application to drill for oil in the North Sea Rosebank oilfield.
Christians from a number of different denominations were joined by people of other faith and secular backgrounds to pray and reflect together. The vigil followed a rally that took place outside the conference centre earlier in the day which was organised by the Stop Rosebank coalition.
The Rosebank oilfield’s projected lifetime emissions make it incompatible with the UK’s legally binding climate commitments. According to UCL research, opening any new North Sea oil and gas fields is inconsistent with limiting warming in line with the temperature thresholds in the Paris Agreement, which the UK has ratified.
Rosebank would generate a total of 254 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime. This is greater than the combined annual CO₂ emissions of the 73 lowest-emitting countries and territories, representing over 114 million people. It is equivalent to running 67 coal-fired power stations for a year.
It would run contrary to the UK’s climate obligations to limiting global warming to 1.5°C. As stated by the International Energy Agency, there is no new oil and gas development on a credible pathway to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
The Government is expected to announce its decision on whether or not to permit drilling of the Rosebank field within the next few weeks.
Christian Climate Action spokesperson Mark Francis, who attended the vigil, said:
‘This summer’s heatwaves and wildfires have shown us that climate change here. Scientists are warning that the El Nino phenomenon will supercharge the extreme weather we’ve already experienced across the world. We came together to pray for this Labour government here, at it’s party conference; to pray for the Government to live up to it’s responsibilities and to protect lives; and to pray for all those across the world that theRosebank decision will affect. Governments should govern wisely and act to protect our common home.’
