Faiths for a Fossil Fuel Treaty

The Rev. James Bhagwan of the Pacific Council of Churches and religious youth standing in rising seas that now submerge Fiji at high tide, 2021 (pic: Greenfaith)

While Shell’s chief executive and shareholders pocketed bigger payouts after scrapping green targets and doubling down on fossil fuels, faith leaders and representatives have called on the UK to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. A letter addressed to Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband was endorsed by Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Quaker, and Sikh signatories, including the chairperson, director, and board of trustees at Faith for the Climate. The letter was jointly drafted by Faith for the Climate and Global Justice now – its full text and signatories can be found below.

Dear Secretaries of State,

At a moment of great peril for our planet and all who live on it, we as faith leaders, representatives, and spokespersons affirm our support for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. This proposed treaty is a chance for the UK to plan for the future with countries around the world, by coordinating a transition from the fossil fuels that are the root cause of climate change, as well as the cost-of-living crisis. This treaty could negotiate an end to our reliance on these toxic fuels, helping to improve lives and secure futures, from Northeast Scotland to the Niger Delta.

The proposed treaty is made up of three pillars that governments around the world have already committed to:

  1. Ending expansion of fossil fuels;
  2. A fair phase out of existing fossil fuel production;
  3. A globally just transition to clean energy for every community, country and worker.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty has been spearheaded by climate vulnerable Pacific island states. It is endorsed by 16 national governments globally, as well as many subnational governments, and major UK cities including Birmingham, Glasgow and London.

As faith leaders, we believe that taking action for a fair and well-managed transition to renewable energy – one which uses the gargantuan profits of the fossil fuel industry to fund a fairer future for all – is a moral imperative for any responsible government. The total for combined pay of Shell and BP’s bosses was £14 million for 2024. All the while, the burning of fossil fuels drove fire, flood, and widespread economic hardship.

Pacific islanders are fearing the loss of their homes, people across the UK are struggling with their bills, and people in the Niger Delta have seen their food, water supplies, and natural landscapes polluted by oil spills. All of these injustices share a common culprit: the fossil fuel industry. This is an industry whose CEOs continue to make millions every year from activities that they know are bringing suffering and hardship to people all around the world. For all the faiths we come from, this is an immense moral wrong.

For decades, successive governments have handed this industry untold power to destroy and deny, all at the expense of ordinary people around the world. We must take its power away and establish a fair global energy system, for workers and communities globally. While this is a complex undertaking, it is achievable. Multilateral action will be required to ensure it happens fairly and efficiently.

President Donald Trump pulling the USA out of the Paris Agreement puts such action under threat, but there is hope in the darkness. Besides redoubling our commitment to COP, the UK can collectively turn a threat into an opportunity by thinking creatively about other fora to deal with the climate and nature crisis and raise living standards globally. It has taken COP conferences nearly 30 years to call for an energy transition. A dedicated space for governments to negotiate a fast and fair end to the fossil fuel era is required to complement the UNFCCC and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty will provide exactly this.

Many of our faiths and belief systems share a ‘Golden Rule’: treat others as you wish to be treated. This doesn’t apply only to our near neighbours – it calls us to take responsibility for the global impacts of our actions. The UK endorsing the Fossil Fuel Treaty would be a signal that the government is willing to take its moral responsibility to communities here and around the world seriously, by acting in their interests, rather than those of billion-dollar corporations and the super rich.

Your government has already taken some positive steps to tackle the climate crisis in a fair way. You have an opportunity to show further global leadership by working with the climate-vulnerable countries who have spearheaded the treaty, to set up a fair global energy system and curb the mass human rights violations being perpetuated by the extraction and burning of, and reliance on, fossil fuels. We ask that you take this opportunity to be on the right side of history, and endorse the Fossil Fuel Treaty on behalf of the UK.

  • Adwoa Burnley, Yearly Meeting Clerk, Quakers
  • Avnish Thakrar, National Coordinator, Hindu Climate Action
  • Canon Giles Goddard, Chair and co-founder of Faith for the Climate; Vicar, St John’s Church, Waterloo (Church of England)
  • Canon Guy Wilkinson CBE, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; Former interfaith advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury (Church of England)
  • Chief Imam Dr Sayed Razawi JP, FRAS, FRSA, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; Director General, Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society
  • Colette Joyce, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; Coordinator, Justice and Peace Commission, Diocese of Westminster (Roman Catholic)
  • Dr Shanon Shah, Director, Faith for the Climate
  • Elizabeth Slade, Chief Officer, General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
  • Jamie Cresswell, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; Director, Centre for Applied Buddhism
  • Kamran Shezad, Director, Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES/EcoIslam)
  • Naomi Verber, Executive Director, EcoJudaism
  • Osai Ojigho, Director of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns, Christian Aid
  • Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, Quakers in Britain
  • Professor Husna Ahmad, OBE, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; CEO of Global One 2015
  • Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; Professor of Sikh Studies, University of Birmingham
  • Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue
  • Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism and co-founder, EcoJudaism
  • Reverend Dr Darrell D. Hannah, Chair, Operation Noah; Rector, All Saints Ascot
  • Reverend Dr Sharon Moughtin, Vicar of St Mary in the Wilderness
  • Right Reverend John Arnold, Bishop of Salford (Roman Catholic)
  • Right Reverend Dr Martin Gainsborough, Bishop of Kingston (Church of England)
  • Right Reverend Olivia Graham, former Bishop of Reading (Church of England)
  • Trupti Patel, Trustee at Faith for the Climate; President of the Hindu Forum of Britain

26 March 2025