In 2021, the International Energy Agency set out a pathway to reach net-zero by 2050, in which for both energy generation and the steel industry, “[n]o new coal mines or extensions of existing ones are needed…existing sources of production are sufficient to cover demand through to 2050” (p103). In addition, Port Talbot Steelworks and British Steel steelworks are negotiating with the UK Government to cut coal out of their steel manufacturing. There is no need-case for the Aberpergwm coal mine, whereas the need-case to keep all coal in the ground is a liveable planet.

Progress is uneven and marked by setbacks like this, but we’ve won against 23 coal mines in the UK—there's 4 more to go, and to finally close the door to any new coal mines. We hope you’re with us until the end. Subscribe to our mailing list to keep updated on our campaigns and get involved.

Coal Action Network’s Barrister, Estelle Dehon KC—with Richard Buxton Solicitors—opened on the morning of 15^th March with a blistering argument  laying out what has happened and why:

1. The Welsh Government’s approval is needed for the Aberpergwm coal mine extension full licence to be valid.
2. The Coal Authority can consider factors beyond a narrow set of criteria when deciding the outcome of a coal company’s application for a conditional or full coal mining licence.

In the afternoon, the Welsh Minister’s Barrister set out their argument for why the Welsh Government’s approval is not required for the Aberpergwm extension full licence to be valid, and that the Wales Act 2017 cannot be applied.

1. If the Welsh Government’s approval is applied to the original conditional licence which dates back to 1996, or to the deconditionalisation/authorisation of a (full) licence in 2022.
2. If the wording in section 26(5) of the Coal Industry Act, that says the Coal Authority can “take into account all such factors as it thinks fit in determining whether, and subject to what conditions, to grant a licence under this Part” means the Coal Authority can apply any considerations it thinks is relevant when deciding on a coal mine application.

Case against Welsh Government

We win:

If the judge accepts that the Welsh Government’s approval (or lack of) applies to the authorisation, then the Wales Act 2017 is applicable, and the Welsh Government’s approval will be needed for the Aberpergwm coal mining licence to be valid.

We lose:

If the judge instead decides that the Welsh Government’s approval applies to the original conditional licence, then Welsh Government approval isn’t required as the conditional licence dates back to 1996 prior to the Wales Act coming into force.. That would mean that the Aberpergwm coal mine can mine under the new licence, adding up to 100 million tonnes of CO2 and 1.17 million tonnes of methane to our atmosphere.

Case against Coal Authority

We win:

If the judge accepts that the Coal Industry Act does indeed give the Coal Authority the power to apply other considerations to a coal mine application. The Coal Authority may have to redecide the Aberpergwm application, and it would then be hard for the Coal Authority to ignore that the Welsh Ministers have stated the coal mine extension would be incompatible with Welsh climate targets.

We lose:

If the judge decides, however, that the Coal Authority can only consider a narrow list of criteria when deciding a conditional or full licence as wider considerations were given in 1996 or 2013. UK law would need to be changed in Westminster to bring the Coal Industry Act in line with the UK Government’s own climate commitments.

A Coal Action Network staff member present at the hearing described said: “It was a real privilege to watch our legal team, Barrister Estelle Dehon KC of Cornerstone Barristers and Matthew McFeeley of Richard Buxton Solicitors, perform with such skilful articulation and clarity in the courtroom today. The case presented showed the flaws in the Welsh Ministers’ and the Coal Authority’s arguments and the barrister for the Welsh Ministers was reduced at one point to arguing to the judge that “her lady should not get caught up on the wording of the law and licence…” (this is literally what the law is based on). We feel confident that our legal team has made convincing and consistent arguments rooted in the law to persuade the judge to find in favour of our claim. We want to thank everyone that supported our crowdfunder to make this hearing possible—we couldn’t have done it without your support”.

Cornerstone Barristers and Richard Buxton Solicitors both provide great summaries of the legal case.

Coal Action Network  is seeking an experienced operations administrator, with a particular focus on finance, to support a small but growing flat-structured staff team following our transition to a formalised employer status with PAYE.

As well as carrying out daily tasks to maintain the organisation's finances and legal compliance as an employer, you will be empowered to improve, design, and implement systems to make the organisation function optimally.

As part of a non hierarchical organisation you will have equal agency as other members of CAN in key decisions affecting the organisation . Upon passing probationary period, you will have the option to become a Co-Director of the organisation.

You will play a key role in ending insurance cover for fossil fuel projects by challenging the world’s biggest energy insurer, Lloyd’s of London, and its members. This new unique role will also leverage CAN’s insurance campaigning capacities to win critical fights against UK coal mines. Your work will centre frontline communities impacted by coal and fossil fuel projects and amplify their voices.

You will work in a team alongside three other insurance campaigners, liaising as necessary with CAN’s UK coal campaigning team. In our non-hierarchical structure you will hold equal agency in decisions affecting the organisation, and, after your probationary period is passed, you will have the option to become a voluntary Co-Director, sharing legal responsibility for the organisation.

If aspects of the Role Description are unfamiliar to you, please see the 'Non-essential' section of the Person Specification for details of what you can learn on the job.

Wales won the freedom to decide its own future on coal mining under The Wales Act 2017. The Welsh Government has a strong policy against mining coal on Welsh soil, and we’re here to support that policy being applied to the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion. Since 2021, the Welsh Government has told the press that its hands are tied because of a legal detail about the Aberpergwm expansion application. Yet, the UK Government, the UK Coal Authority, and even the Parliamentary Welsh Affairs Committee Chair all went on record to say it is for the Welsh Government to decide the fate of the licence to expand the Aberpergwm coal mine. Neither side could agree, and during months of finger-pointing in the press, neither side sought a definitive legal ruling on it either—and the Aberpergwm coal mine extension slipped through.

So Coal Action Network has crowdfunded this judicial review in the hope that the Cardiff Court finds the Welsh Government’s approval is needed for the Aberpergwm expansion licence to be valid. The Welsh Government will then be free to apply its policy against coal to create a greener, cleaner future for Wales.

Gove’s 15-page letter outlining his reasons for approving the Whitehaven coal mine has already been left in tatters by steel industry leaders who have said British Steelworks can’t rely on Whitehaven coal as it’s too high in polluting sulphur. Gove’s justification was dealt another blow when Owen Hewlett, the chief technical officer of Gold Standard offsetting, called the idea of making the coal mine carbon-neutral through Gold Standard offsetting “obviously nonsense, morally nonsense and technically insane”.

Coal Action Network said “We’re here because Santa knows who’s been naughty and nice, and Gove’s top of the naughty list for approving the Whitehaven coal mine. If more coal mines are really Gove’s only levelling up offer, Santa’s got a message for him this Christmas: climate change only levels down. It’s a dead-end industry distracting from the levelling up potential of jobs with a future.”

Lush campaigns manager Andrew Butler says, “Lush will be Santa for lots of people this Christmas and while we usually provide nice presents, Gove is firmly on our naughty list. But to say Gove has been naughty is a gross understatement. His reckless decision to approve a new coal mine in West Cumbria puts us all on the path to climate catastrophe and makes extreme weather like the floods that displaced tens of millions of people in Pakistan more likely. Gove is not just naughty, he is a climate criminal.”

In a joint statement Coal Action Network and Lush Santas say, “We must remember that individuals are making these decisions that cost us billions, our quality of life, and our very future. Where is the individual accountability for that? Families are freezing in their homes this winter because someone in Government effectively stopped the home insulation programme around a decade ago. Instead of holding that person responsible and reversing that damage, Gove approves a coal mine for a steel industry that doesn’t want it, derailing our climate promises. Santa is all about individual accountability and doesn’t care if someone hides behind a Ministerial title—so these sacks of ‘coal’ are delivered to Michael Gove personally this Xmas.”