A GROUP of Christians have made a Twenty first-century return to the tradition of Norway’s supplying the Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square. Members of Christian Climate Action (CCA) have delivered a dead tree to the Norwegian embassy, to focus on the harm being attributable to Norwegian oil drilling within the North Atlantic.
The oil giant Equinor, an organization majority owned by the Norwegian government, intends to start out drilling the Rosebank oil field, despite objections from climate scientists, campaigners, and other people living in parts of the worldwide South vulnerable to climate change (News, 4 October).
In a letter to the Norwegian ambassador, delivered together with the tree, CCA members, wrote: “The CO2 emissions from this one oil field could equate to the annual emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries combined, that are home to greater than 700 million people. This is a present that may only result in more death and destruction to the planet.”
The UK government has stopped issuing licenses for brand new oil and gas fields, but Rosebank was given the go-ahead under Rishi Sunak’s administration.
Christian Climate ActionAn official takes delivery of the “dead tree”, on the Norwegian embassy, on Wednesday
A Baptist minister from Oxford who helped to deliver the tree, the Revd James Grote, said: “Fossil fuels are killing our planet, people, wildlife, and land. That’s what this dead tree represents, and we’re 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 in the course of the dark days of the Second World War.
“It’s a beautiful gift that brings joy to thousands and thousands, however the Christmas story just isn’t 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’re miles from home. It’s about facing the darkness and seeing that light and hope can are available.
“We face an actual and present darkness within the climate emergency, that we’ve seen first hand in Storm Bert. The Norwegian government and Equinor stopping Rosebank would bring real light and hope.”
The annual gift of the Trafalgar Square tree from Norway goes back to 1947, in recognition of British support in the course of the Second World War.
