Jewish eco-charity leaders urge Burnham not to allow new oil and natural gas drilling

Representatives of the Jewish community’s key climate charity have written to the Prime Minister urging him not to approve new drilling in oil and natural gas fields in the North Sea, saying that to do so “would destroy the credibility of the UK’s, and specifically the Labour Party’s, previously strong commitments on climate action.”

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, the founder of EcoJudaism, Rabbi Mark Goldsmith, a founding trustee of the charity, and Rafi Addlestone, the chair of trustees, are among those who signed the letter written to Andy Burnham this week, with other signatories including Talia Chain, CEO of Sadeh Farm, and Joel Silver, Director of Policy & Engagement at Hope for the Future.

“We are writing to you as leaders and members of the Jewish community”, the letter reads, “out of deep concern for the future of our children, our country and indeed life itself as the climate warms, ice caps and glaciers melt, weather patterns and food production are disrupted and, across nature, countless species struggle to survive.

“We appreciate that as a person of faith you share with us a deep appreciation of God’s creation and of our role as faithful and respectful stewards. Judaism teaches us to think generationally and take with the utmost seriousness our responsibility for our children, so that we leave them a more just, habitable and vibrant world. ‘Do not destroy’ but, on the contrary, ‘repair and restore the world’ are understood as divine commandments.”

The letter goes on to refer to Burnham’s “excellent record on environmental matters when Mayor of Manchester”, but says that the writers are “deeply concerned by the possibility of renewed drilling at the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields. This would unlock a substantial new source of fossil fuels, producing an estimated 254 million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to almost 70% of the entire UK’s annual carbon emissions. Additionally, through the negative example it would set for other countries, it would add substantially to the already extremely dangerous rate of global warming.”

The Rosebank and Jackdaw fields are major oil and natural gas developments in the North Sea; Rosebank, which is estimated to hold approximately 300-500 million barrels of oil, is the UK’s largest untapped field, while Jackdaw is one of the largest unexploited natural gas fields remaining in the region. While the previous Conservative government approved both fields, in 2022 and 2023 respectively, a Scottish court ruled in 2025 that the consents were granted unlawfully because the government had failed to fully take into account the impact on the climate. It ordered that new assessments had to be produced; the public consultation into those assessments closed this month. It is unclear when a final decision will be reached on whether to authorise the fields or not.

The letter from Rabbi Wittenberg (also Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism), Rabbi Goldsmith (also Senior Rabbi at Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue) and others, makes the point that “such a decision cannot be right at a time when forests across Europe and Britain are burning due to unprecedented heatwaves and droughts, which are all too likely a mere prelude to what awaits us in the future.

“You recently met with firefighters and those leading the battle to keep our homes and woodlands safe. The government cannot with any credibility take a decision which will make their task yet more difficult, maybe even impossible.”

It is understood that Ed Miliband, Secretary of State of Energy and Net Zero under Keir Starmer, was strongly opposed to opening up Rosebank and Jackdaw for excavation. However, Miliband, who is Jewish, was moved to the role of Foreign Secretary last month after Andy Burnham entered Number 10, and was succeeded by Miatta Fahnbulleh, a close ally of the new Prime Minister.

The climate message from Jewish leaders also warns against requests from the UK car industry to water down EV (Electric vehicle) targets amidst a fall in production, saying that “a reduction of the country’s EV targets would have a similar negative effect, as well as hampering progress in the UK’s transition to clean transport and undermining confidence across the industry in the government’s clarity of vision and firmness of purpose.

“The UK has good reasons to be proud of its transition to clean energy, in which it is a beacon to the world. A decision to drill at Rosebank and Jackdaw would destroy the credibility of the UK’s, and specifically the Labour Party’s, previously strong commitments on climate action and destroy our standing as an international leader in addressing this most urgent global challenge.

“On the contrary, now is the time to declare our absolute commitment to the transition to clean energy, with urgency and speed. Short term economic interests and political jockeying must not be allowed to push us away from this existential goal.”

In July, Rabbi Wittenberg, alongside Muslim, Catholic and Anglican aid leaders, urged Andy Burnham to prioritise action on climate and nature as Prime Minister. Subsequently, more than 50 Catholic leaders and organisations wrote to Burnham, who is the UK’s first openly Catholic Prime Minister, urging him not to move forward with drilling in Rosebank or Jackdaw.