Copyright European Union, 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0
By Ruth Wright
Published on 21/05/2026 - 6:30 GMT+2
“Europe holds a historic duty and opportunity to lead the transition to a new era away from fossil fuels”, say faith groups from across the EU.
A coalition of Christian organisations has issued an urgent appeal to EU institutions: phase out fossil fuels and tax those who profit from them.
120 organisations from 20 EU countries have signed the first ever appeal of its kind.
“Europe has a unique opportunity and the moral responsibility to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels and shift to clean energy, including through a permanent tax on the colossal profits of fossil fuel companies”, the document says. It was recently revealed by the Guardian newspaper that the world’s top 100 oil and gas companies made more than $30 million (€25.8m) every hour in profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran.
The appeal calls on the EU to “remain steadfast in its founding values of human dignity and the common good by accelerating a just energy transition.”
Signatory organisations include European and national faith-based institutions, including episcopal bodies, religious orders, social and environmental NGOs, international development charities, and Christian movements and communities. Organisations include Laudato Si’ Movement, Caritas Europa and the Central Committee of German Catholics.
Christian values ‘at a time of deepening ecological crisis’
In the appeal, called ‘Europe, Be Faithful for our Common Home’, the signatories say that for Christians’ care for creation is not optional, rather it is “essential to a life of virtue”. This leads them to ask: “What does it mean to love one’s neighbour at a time of deepening ecological crisis, which disproportionately impacts the poorest?”
They say the Global South, the world’s poorest countries, should be supported to invest in climate action “by cancelling unsustainable debts and supporting just taxation” as well as providing these countries with grants rather than loans. In 2024, developing countries held debts of $31 trillion (€26tn), according to UN Trade and Development.
Tax fossil fuel companies
“Europe faces a stark choice: lead the phaseout of fossil fuels, or side with the most polluting companies responsible for half of global carbon emissions,” the document states.
Fossil fuel companies are widely acknowledged to be the world’s biggest polluters. Rather than siding with them the signatories call for their profits to be taxed, and for fossil fuel subsidies to be stopped. They ask for these taxes to “finance the energy transition and support the most vulnerable households.” In 2023, fossil fuel subsidies amounted to $620 billion (€534bn), according to the International Energy Agency.
EU 'omnibus' called into question
The signatories say “the EU is currently dismantling its own legislation and turning its back on its role as a global climate leader.” They point to what is known as the ‘environmental omnibus’ legislation: a raft of "simplifications" of environmental legislation that will lower standards and monitoring of industrial emissions and water protection.
While the European Commission says the measures are designed to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens, environmental groups oppose the changes saying they make it easier for manufacturers to pollute, and accusing the Commission of siding with industry heavyweights to the detriment of nature and people's health.
The Christian organisations say: “Too often, ‘simplification’ has led to deregulation, for instance, through the ongoing ‘Omnibus’ legislation: delaying climate commitments, increasing fossil fuel dependence, weakening due diligence, and cutting social and environmental safeguards.”
Faith groups have specific demands
The appeal calls on the EU “to be faithful to its founding values on human dignity and human rights, and set courageous goals to safeguard the present and the future.”
As to what these goals should be, the group has a few demands. The first pertains to the fossil fuel phaseout, calling for “a clear strategy to exit coal by 2030, gas by 2035, and oil by 2040, alongside an immediate ban on all new fossil fuel exploration and an end to permits for new fossil fuel infrastructure.”
The next demand is to “massively scale up investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and electrification, while promoting energy sufficiency and a circular economy to save resources.”
The last demand relates to the next seven-year EU budget, which is due to be finalised by late 2027. The Christian groups say it “must prioritise those struggling to pay their energy bills over the interests of corporations accumulating billions of Euros in profits.”
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P.S.
Religious Organisations in “Europe, Be Faithful for Our Common Home”
The “Europe, Be Faithful for Our Common Home” campaign is a coalition of over 130 faith organisations from 20 EU countries, representing more than 600,000 members of religious congregations PAX CHRISTI International+1. It was launched during Laudato Si’ Week and is promoted by the Laudato Si’ Movement, which brings together Christian groups working in ecology, solidarity, migration, peacebuilding, education, and justice Laudato Si' Movement.
Key Organisations in the Coalition
The statement and campaign list several major participants, including PAX CHRISTI International+2:
- Laudato Si’ Movement – a network of Christian groups promoting integral ecology and climate justice.
- Caritas Europa – the European branch of the Catholic Caritas network, working in solidarity and social justice.
- CIDSE – the Catholic International Justice and Peace Commission, representing the Catholic Church’s social justice voice.
- Pax Christi International – a global network of Christian peace and justice organisations.
- Justice & Peace Europe – a pan-European network of faith-based justice and peace groups.
- European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) – a network of Christian environmental organisations.
- UISG (Union of Irish Sisters of the Good Shepherd) and USG (Union of Sisters of the Good Shepherd) – religious congregations advocating for justice and care for creation.
- Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) – representing the Catholic bishops’ conferences across Europe.
- FEC (Fédération Ecologique Catholique) – French Catholic environmental federation.
- FOCSIV (Fédération des Oeuvres Catholiques de Solidarité et d’Intervention au Service des Vocations) – French Catholic solidarity and mission organisation.
- KOO (Koöperatieve Organisatie Oost-Brabant) – Dutch faith-based solidarity organisation.
- Trócaire – Irish Catholic development agency.
- CCFD-Terre Solidaire – French Catholic solidarity and development organisation.
- Entraide et Fraternité – French Catholic solidarity network.
These organisations are united in calling the EU to:
- Accelerate a just energy transition and phase out fossil fuels (coal by 2030, gas by 2035, oil by 2040).
- End new fossil fuel exploration and subsidies.
- Tax fossil fuel profits permanently to fund the transition.
- Prioritise climate finance and social justice in the EU budget CIDSE+1.
The campaign is inspired by Pope Leo XIV’s call to leave “no room for indifference or resignation” and by the Manifesto of the Bishops of the Global South for a just transition beyond fossil fuels CIDSE+1.
Source: Microsoft 
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