UK must show leadership at historic conference on phasing out fossil fuels

Handing in the letter to Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, 15 April 2026. Left to right: Thomas Niblett (Joint Public Issues Team, JPIT), Canon Giles Goddard (Faith for the Climate), Ann Howell (Unitarians), Melanie Nazareth (Christian Climate Action), Ben Niblett (Quakers in Britain)

Tuesday, 21 April 2026: Senior leaders and representatives from diverse faiths have asked Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, to attend the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia.

Coordinated by Faith for the Climate, Quakers in Britain, and the Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches (JPIT), the letter’s signatories include Rev’d Canon Giles Goddard (Chair of Faith for the Climate), Bishop John Arnold (Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford), and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg (Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK and Rabbi of New North London Synagogue).

Representatives of the Baptist, Methodist, United Reformed Churches, Quakers in Britain and Operation Noah and Green Christian, as well as trustees of Faith for the Climate have also signed the letter.  

The letter urges Ed Miliband to attend, and

  • show that the UK government supports the transition with like-minded, high ambition countries
  • contribute to a detailed roadmap for a transition that is fast, fair and funded, and
  • commit the UK’s fair share to putting this roadmap into action.

Canon Goddard said:

It’s really important that the UK continues its record of climate leadership by working with climate allies. In the face of a fossil fuel crisis, this conference is vital to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, and ensure that it is fast, fair and funded. Ed Miliband’s attendance would show the UK is serious about climate justice and wants to work together, especially with the countries most impacted by the climate crisis. As Ed said himself, ‘You can’t solve a fossil fuel crisis by doubling down on fossil fuels.’ Santa Marta is a key opportunity to bring on ‘the era of clean energy security’.

The UK has a track record of providing international climate leadership, with Ed Miliband himself having observed last autumn: ‘We are up against the march of time and massive global forces that would slow down or stop action. In the face of this opposition, multilateralism is our best hope.’ In response, the faith leaders said, ‘Your words encouraged us [and] ​we ​encourage you to put them into action​ with fellow climate leaders​ in Santa Marta​.​​’

In an appendix to the letter, the leaders explain their shared motivation in issuing the call, saying:

To be good ​​carers ​of our common home, we must act quickly and phase out the production of fossil fuels… It is ​a ​moral imperative to protect those most in need and to uphold the​ rights of future generations​ ​​​and the whole earth​​​ ​​​​by employing renewable sources of energy.

This conference has the support of a broad range of climate leaders, such as the nations who signed the Belem Declaration on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, a statement made at the conclusion of COP30, the UN climate conference hosted by Brazil in 2025, on the next steps in the fight for climate justice. This includes small island states especially at risk from climate change, such as Fiji and Jamaica, as well as the UK’s European allies, including Spain and Austria. It also includes the co-host of COP31, Australia. These countries have welcomed the Santa Marta Conference ‘as a platform to advance the dialogues to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels after COP30.’ Several nations attending are major fossil fuel producers, including host nation Colombia, as well as Canada, Brazil and Norway.

This conference, independently organised by like-minded countries with high climate ambitions from Global South and North, would help to keep fossil fuel phase-out on the agenda as we look towards COP31 later this year. 

Full text of the letter

Dear Ed Miliband  

First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels  

As UK faith leaders​ and representatives​ from many faiths,​ beliefs and traditions, we are writing to you ahead of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands in Santa Marta, Colombia in the last week of April​.  In light of the ongoing energy crisis, this conference is vital for developing energy security and access for the UK and our allies, and a key opportunity for the UK to demonstrate its climate leadership.​ 

Multilateralism and leadership  

We are writing to ask you:  

  • ​​​To ​convey a clear message of support from the UK to make the most of this new multilateral movement, including sending a signal of leadership by personally attending the High-Level Segment at the end of the conference​​ 
  • To work to agree a detailed roadmap for a transition away from fossil fuels that is fast, fair, and funded  
  • ​​​​To commit the UK’s fair share of funding for the transition.  ​​​ 

​​As you wrote in your Guardian column after COP30, ’Clean energy and climate action remain the foundation on which the global economy is being remade and rebuilt. We are up against the march of time and massive global forces that would slow down or stop action. In the face of this opposition, multilateralism is our best hope.  

‘We have seen the emergence of an impressive coalition of 83 countries from the global north and global south [to create] a roadmap to help countries transition away from fossil fuels and scale up clean energy.  

‘Detailed negotiations matter, but the movements we build around them profoundly influence what can be delivered.’ ​​​

Your words encouraged us, ​and reflect the UK’s climate leadership​​ ​​through the phase-out of coal mining, and prohibitions on further exploration of oil and gas. ​​We ​encourage you to put them into action​ with fellow climate leaders​ in Santa Marta​.​​

​​​​​​​A just transition away from fossil fuels is very important to faith communities, and we would value a meeting with civil servants, and perhaps the Special Representative on Climate, to discuss our shared experiences and perspectives on the transition.​​ 

​​​​​Yours sincerely,    

Rev’d Canon Giles Goddard – Chair of Faith for the Climate

Bishop John Arnold – Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, Diocese of Salford

Rt Rev’d Olivia Graham – Former Bishop of Reading, Church of England

Rev’d Richard Andrew – President of Conference, Methodist Church of Great Britain

Matthew Forsyth – Vice President of Conference, Methodist Church of Great Britain

Rev’d Lynn Green – General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain

Rev’d Dr David Gregory – Convenor of BUEN, Baptist Union Environmental Network

Catriona Wheeler – General Assembly Moderator, United Reformed Church

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg – Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK, Rabbi of New North London Synagogue

Paul Parker – Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain

Rev’d Dr Darrell Hannah – Chair, Operation Noah

George Dow – Chair, Green Christian

Ann Howell, Social Action Officer – UK Unitarians

Melanie Nazareth – Christian Climate Action

Dr Shanon Shah – Director of Faith for the Climate

Chief Imam Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi FRSA – Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Jo Chamberlain – Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Sue Curd – Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Dr Christopher Ives – Trustee of Faith for the Climate, and Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Nottingham.

Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal – Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Colette Joyce – Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Dr Sachi Patel – Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Trupti Patel – President Hindu Forum of Britain and Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Lucy Plummer – Trustee of Faith for the Climate

Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers – Trustee of Faith for the Climate