Church’s landmark ruling

The Methodist Church will no longer invest its funds in fossil fuel companies in a move sparked by Stirling Methodist Church.

The Methodist Central Scotland Circuit, instigated by the Stirling church, led the way in a groundbreaking decision at the June 2017 Methodist Church annual conference.

Smaller groups like the Quakers have made similar decisions, but the Methodists have become the first large UK-wide Church to take this step.

In November, Stirling Methodists tabled a notice of motion at their Circuit meeting calling for the Methodist Church to divest from oil and other fossil fuel companies that “threaten to accelerate, not reduce, climate change and instead focus investment on clean energy”.

The Central Scotland Circuit and the Synod of the Methodist Church in Scotland backed the motion and submitted `Memorials’ to the annual conference. Several other Circuits and Synods across the country followed suit. The church now plans to remove investment from “any company that has not committed to a Low Carbon Business Plan in tune with the Paris proposal of a global temperature rise well below two degrees”.

Walter Attwood, from the Stirling Methodist Church Green Team, said: “Oil has supported a large number of jobs in Scotland, but the fact is every £1 million spent on clean energy brings more jobs than the same money spent on fossil fuels. This is a landmark decision by the church.”