FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Notice to NEWS DESKS 13 December 2006

Operation Noah appoints seasoned campaigner

Operation Noah, the Churches’ campaign to avert catastrophic climate change, has appointed Ann Pettifor, one of the architects of the hugely successful Jubilee 2000 campaign, as its new Campaign Director. Operation Noah is a project of the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and Christian Ecology Link.

David Pickering, chairperson of Operation Noah said:

“We are delighted to announce that Ann Pettifor will bring her extensive experience of campaigning and advocacy to the vital cause of climate change. Ann worked closely with the churches during the Jubilee 2000 campaign, and credits the faith organisations with much of the impact made by Jubilee 2000 both in the UK and also internationally. The threat of climate change means that faith organisations will once again have to mobilise, this time to bring about the changes needed to ‘cut the carbon’ and stabilise global carbon emissions. We look forward to Ann heading up the Operation Noah Campaign to tackle the biggest threat facing humanity in the 21st century.”

For a photograph of Ann Pettifor and for further information:
David Pickering on 0113 269 7002 or Bob Fyffe on 020 7654 7210.

NOTES TO EDITORS
1 . Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) helps the Churches to think, work and pray together. It is the official ecumenical body which brings together Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant and Pentecostal traditions and is the direct successor to the old British Council of Churches. Its work includes racial justice, inter faith relations, international affairs, global mission, faith, unity and spirituality. CTBI works closely with the Churches Together bodies which focus on Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England. See www.ctbi.org.uk

2. Operation Noah is a project of the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and Christian Ecology Link. To avert catastrophic climate change, the campaign calls on world leaders and every person to act to cut carbon emissions to a safe level in a way that is fair for all the world’s people. It equips churches and their members across Britain and Ireland to fulfill this goal.

3. Ann Pettifor has been appointed as campaign director by the board of Operation Noah, and will work part-time to oversee the campaign and fundraising strategy. In the 1990s Ann helped design and lead an international campaign, Jubilee 2000, which succeeded in persuading a large swathe of world public opinion, as well as world leaders, to cancel $100bn of debt owed by 42 countries. Jubilee 2000 became a template for campaigns such as that of Howard Dean in the 2004 US Primaries; and the Make Poverty History campaign of 2005. Ann has served on the Board of the UN’s Human Development Report on the MDGs (2003); as a member of the high level group of the Helsinki Process (sponsored by the Finnish and Tanzanian governments); and as an Associate of the new economics foundation (nef). While working at nef she edited ‘ the real world economic outlook’ (Palgrave, 2003) and worked with the Andrew Simms, author of ‘ Ecological debt: the health of the planet and the wealth of nations ’ ( 2005). In 2004 she helped establish Advocacy International Ltd, a consultancy that advises governments and organisations. She has an honorary doctorate from the University of Newcastle; was awarded the Freedom of the City of Callao in Peru in 1999; the 2000 Pax Christi International Peace Prize; and was made a member of the Order of the Niger by President Obasanjo in 2002.