Sir Paul Marshall, a hedge fund manager and committed Christian, has donated £28 million to influential Church of England institutions that support climate action, raising serious questions among Christian leaders given his climate scepticism and the views broadcast on GB News, a TV channel he co-owns.
Climate Views in Conflict
Christian leaders say Marshall's views on the climate crisis and those frequently broadcast on GB News are in direct opposition to the Church of England's stance. The church believes that responding to the climate crisis is an essential part of safeguarding God's creation and achieving a just world.
Marshall, who recently said the UK had been infected by 'climate derangement syndrome,' gave at least £13 million to Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) church and the Church Revitalisation Trust (CRT) via his Sequoia Trust between 2018 and 2025, according to Guardian analysis of Charity Commission accounts.
Donations to Key Church Institutions
HTB is the largest church in the Church of England, with a congregation of about 4,000, and is home to the evangelical Alpha Course, which has reached 37 million people in more than 175 countries. Marshall has been a member of the congregation since 1997. The CRT, also known as the Re-vitalise Trust, is run from HTB and has established more than 100 evangelical churches around the UK. Marshall is a director of CRT.
Some critics fear the money could influence the church institutions' attitudes towards the climate crisis.
Concerns from Christian Climate Campaigners
Rev Dr Darrell Hannah, chair of Operation Noah, a leading UK Christian climate charity, said: 'As the climate crisis intensifies, we're increasingly concerned that a fellow Christian – one with more money and power than virtually any other Christian in the UK – continues to share problematic and highly influential views on the most important issue of our time. This cannot go unchallenged.'
Operation Noah was instrumental in getting nearly every UK denomination to divest from fossil fuels. Hannah added: 'Marshall's views are in direct opposition to those of the Church of England. Given his outsized influence on our country – and in light of his problematic views on the most significant moral and practical challenge of our time – serious questions need to be asked about Sir Paul Marshall's donations to faith groups, and specifically to the Church of England.'
Church of England's Climate Stance
The Church of England has a routemap for all parts of the church to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and has divested its multibillion-pound endowment and pension funds from fossil fuels.
GB News broadcast 953 attacks on climate science and climate action around the 2024 general election, according to a report. The channel has been accused of broadcasting climate change denial, including descriptions of global heating as 'the climate scam' and suggestions the government was going to introduce 'enforced veganism'.
Marshall's Defense and Criticism
Marshall, who has a net worth of £950 million, said recently that efforts to cut planet-heating emissions were 'impoverishing people.' He also owns the Spectator magazine and UnHerd website and has given large donations to schools and the London School of Economics.
A spokesperson for Marshall said: 'Sir Paul generally agrees with Christian and Anglican teaching on the environment and climate change. Like many people, including many Christians, he just doesn't subscribe to net zero by 2050 due to the serious negative impact on poor people, their communities and the economy. Instead, he prefers to allow human innovation to adapt to and to limit climate change. This is a perfectly reasonable position held by millions of people, including many Christians.'
However, central banks, regulators, global consultancies, and academic experts, going back to the 2006 Stern review, have all found the cost of climate action is far less than the economic damage caused by lack of action.
Previous Criticism from Church Leaders
In March, Marshall was criticised by a group of more than 120 church leaders, including former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and two current bishops, over his climate views and GB News's attacks on climate science and action. The group also raised the £1.8 billion of fossil fuel investments reportedly held in 2023 by the hedge fund Marshall manages and asked him to be transparent about any personal conflicts of interest.
In his response, Marshall said the extent to which global heating was being caused by human actions was 'still subject to debate.' The world's climate scientists, in reports signed off by 192 national governments, have been clear for more than a decade that about 100% of global heating since 1950 was caused by human emissions and activities.
Details of Donations
Marshall is chair of the Sequoia Trust, a charity helping 'children/young people … the general public/mankind,' according to its Charity Commission filing. The trust had a market value of £477 million on 30 June 2025. HTB received £5 million in donations between 2018 and 2024. Its environment policy states: 'We encourage our congregation to embrace sustainable lifestyles and make environmentally conscious choices in their daily lives.' The CRT received £13 million in donations and grant commitments between 2018 and 2024 from the Sequoia Trust.
Unlike in previous years, the Sequoia Trust accounts for 2024-25 do not name the recipients of donations but record £10.2 million given to faith-based institutions. It is not known how much of this went to HTB and CRT, and Marshall declined to comment.
Ofcom Investigation
The broadcasting regulator Ofcom decided in May to investigate whether GB News had breached rules on due impartiality and material misleadingness in relation to a repeat showing of an interview with Donald Trump in November. Complainants said the US president's claims about climate change being 'a hoax' had gone unchallenged. The network said at the time: 'GB News stands firmly by its journalism and editorial standards.' It declined to comment on Marshall's church donations.
