Lots of groups have taken action since the government approved a new coal mine, proposed for Whitehaven, Cumbria, on the 8th December 2022—including:
The day the planning permission was overturned! On the 13th September South Lakes Action on Climate Change and Friends of the Earth won their case, against the Conservative Government's decision to allow a new coal mine. Following a hearing in the High Court in July 2024. Delighted campaigners gathered outside the former County Hall in Kendal and in Whitehaven Market Place to hear the news together this morning.
The Judge, Mr Justice Holgate ruled, "The assumption that the proposed mine would not produce a net increase in GHG emissions, or would be a net zero mine, is legally flawed"
Demonstrations took place in Whitehaven and in London, in support of the court case at the High Court 16th to 18th July looking to overturn the Conservative Government's approval of the proposed coal mine. People gathered twice in Whitehaven to show the foundations that the case relied on and called for Governmental action to increase jobs in the West Cumbria area. London demonstrations took place just before the case opened and on day two, showing this is an important issue for many people.
Coal Action Network asked Who will stop coal? in early June 2024, in Whitehaven, West Cumbria. At the site of the proposed coal mine, members of the local community and supporters gathered to ensure that the question of the mine is being put to election candidates, with photos taken of over 30 protestors dressed in orange suits. The action was designed to get the attention of candidates in the General Election. 5 political parties have said that they would take action against coal mining.
Just Stop Oil supporters have targeted the offices of Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson in Maryport, Cumbria on the 26th April four individuals plastered his officers with posters that read: “Mark Jenkinson is telling giant porkies about coal & jobs. He just wants to please his Tory billionaire chums. The rich will get richer, the jobs won’t last & no-one needs the coal…” A group of Just Stop Oil supporters joined the action takers outside the office, putting up ‘Crime Scene’ tape and holding up signs saying ‘PEOPLE vs COAL’. It is not the first protest against Mark Jenkinson for his support of the proposed mine.
The insurance industry found itself in the spotlight over the end of February/ beginning of March as a Global Week of Action blossomed across the world beginning February 27th. In a wave of protests, both online and in the streets, swept through the doors of insurance giants, demanding accountability over their support for polluters and decisive action on climate change. In the UK many of these actions called on insurance companies to refuse to insure the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). More details here. Yet another leading insurance company, Probitas, has ruled out insuring the proposed West Cumbria coal mine.
People hailing from Cumbria to London, and everywhere in between, descended on the Mines and Money Conference in London across two days (28th-29th Nov 2023). We demanded that investors stop pouring cash into the mining sector, and instead invest in our collective future. Together with Fossil Free London and other groups, we greeted investors with flyers highlighting risks to investments in mining that mining companies want to hide—such as successful grassroots resistance to mining projects around the world.
On Friday 27th October, visitors and residents travelling in Cumbria were met by a powerful message of opposition to the proposed new coal mine at Whitehaven. Large banners were hung at major roads across the county, declaring this is “No Time for a Coal Mine”. The banners were hung at the M6 junction at Penrith, on the A66 at Keswick and Cockermouth, on bridges over the Staveley by-pass and the A591 at Kendal, at Garsdale Head and at Whitehaven itself.
Meanwhile, posters emblazoned with “No Time for a Coal Mine” appeared all around Kendal and Penrith. On Saturday 28th October, the Cumbrian Canaries made an outing at the Winter Droving festival in Penrith, raising the alarm about the proposed coal mine and handing out around 800 leaflets to the revellers.
October's Speakers' Corner hosted Prof. Julia Steinberger, an IPCC 6th Assessment Report author who said that demand reduction is needed to reduce the worst impacts of climate change, and that we already have the technology to ensure this can happen while ensuring a comfortable life. There were 5 other brilliant speakers.
The event was planned to mark the first day of the legal challenge against the Government's approval of the mine proposal, but the hearing has been postponed until after a linked case, which will decide whether the end use emissions need to be considered when giving planning consent. This would mean that the emissions from consuming coal from this site in steelworks would need to be counted, not just those released from mining. Further Speaker's corner events took place in November and December.
On the 18th October, hundreds of protesters occupied the plush City of London offices of ten Lloyd’s of London insurers demanding they rule out insuring the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). Earlier that day the protesters marched waving banners saying “Don’t Insure EACOP” and “Don’t Insure West Cumbria Mine” to three high profile buildings including the “Walkie Talkie” where in a coordinated swoop, activists are causing disruption in the office foyers of Ascot, Talbot, Chaucer, Markel, Allied World, CNA Hardy, Tokio Marine Kiln, Sirius International and Lancashire Syndicates. The activists staged a sit-in. More details here.
On the 15th September, the Global day of action against fossil fuel finance, kicked off demonstrations at the offices of Lloyd of London Insurance companies kicking off the campaign to ensure West Cumbria Mining Ltd don't get insurance for the proposed coal mine. Demonstrations took place in places including London, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, York, Wrexham, Croydon and Cardiff.
At September's Speakers' Corner event the demonstrators heard from Sarah Finch, Weald Action Group, about the proposal to extract oil in Surrey - which she is challenging in the Supreme Court.
Michael Gove referenced the High Court decision on the case of Horse Hill in Surrey, and used that case to justify excluding the greenhouse gas emissions that would arise from burning the coal from the mine. Sarah's court case questions how end use emissions can be ignored in projects like oil or coal extraction. The Horse Hill decision is awaited and will likely influence the outcome of the legal challenges against the Whitehaven proposal and therefore whether the mine goes ahead.
At the end of August 2023 Earth First! squatted the site of the proposed Whitehaven coal mine and held a week long gathering packed with inspiring discussions, delicious food, wonderful workshops, lots of sock wrestling and some spectacular sunsets! It was a week of radical ecological existence, bursting with love and burning with revolutionary spirit. Their message was
As thousands of visitors travelled into Cumbria for the busy August bank holiday they were met with a powerful statement: 25 large banners opposing the proposed new coal mine near Whitehaven with the words ‘NO TIME for a COAL MINE’ on all the roads into Cumbria.
Leafleting also happened in Carlisle, Keswick, Kirkby Lonsdale and Penrith with a good reception.
Not Coal, Not Dole, speakers' corner on the 22nd July Just Transition and Climate Jobs saw people come to the proposed site from across the North. Speakers included: Willie Black from Scot E3 and Unite the Union; Joseph Healey, Left Unity and Unite the Union, Gail Bradbrook founder of Extinction Rebellion whose father was a coal miner and Clara Paillard Former President of PCS union Culture group compared.
30th June speakers' corner where those there heard four very informative and inspirational speakers - all of whom underlined the extreme recklessness of even considering building a new coal mine; and pointed out how what west Cumbria - and especially its young people - needed, and could have, was many more good, long-term, green jobs that didn't wreck the climate and, instead, would help build a better & more sustainable future for the local community.
Chris Packham joined Friends of the Earth, Extinction Rebellion and others at the first ‘Speaker’s Corner’ event outside the gates of the proposed site in May 2023. This is now a regular event.
South Lakes Action on Climate Change and Friends of the Earth are running legal challenges against the Government’s December 2022 approval of the coal mine. Both organisations assert that the decision to grant planning permission for the coal mine was unlawful, as the Secretary of State did not properly consider the climate impacts of this mine. A judge will decide if there is a case to answer, and, if so, will hear that case in a three day trial 24th to 26th October.
Extinction Rebellion North Lakes and others at the ‘Big One’ protests in London in April protested outside Javelin Commodities, because the company has agreed to sell any coal extracted from the site to steelmakers, predominantly outside of the UK. During 4 days of protests there were numerous banners and placards from various groups against the proposal in Cumbria.
In February 2023, vicars and other Christians protested outside the Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle offices of Ward Hadaway, lawyers for West Cumbria Mining Ltd, and the London headquarters of Javelin Global Commodities, who intend to sell coal for West Cumbria Mining Ltd. Christian Climate Action are calling on both companies to “cut the ties” with the proposed new coal mine in Cumbria. The protesters held banners with the message ‘Coal is killing humanity’ and delivered letters asking the organisations to end their involvement with West Cumbria Mining, the company behind the coal mine.
In mid-January Extinction Rebellion protested dressed as canaries outside of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that approved the application, lighting smoke bombs and spreading out a fake oil slick.
Just before Christmas (2022) a gang of Santas delivered sacks of faux coal to Michael Gove for being a very naughty boy at his Department of Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities in an action by Coal Action Network and Lush cosmetics. The Santas held signs reading “Christmas coal for climate criminal Gove” after Gove’s approval of the coal mine application.
A wide range of groups and individuals protested at the proposed coal mine site outside Whitehaven in December 2022 during the week following the Government’s approval of work at the site. There were speeches and a commitment to ensure that this coal stays in the ground.
XR North Lakes gathered in Penrith on December 9th following the Government’s approval of the mine scheme.
In 2022, we launched a Judicial Review as one of the last chances to stop Aberpergwm deep coal mine extension in South Wales, and keep up to 42 million tonnes of coal in the ground. Many of you donated generously to make that legal challenge possible, and our legal team worked tirelessly to deliver a razor-sharp case. However, on 19th May 2023, the Judicial Review decision upheld the mine to continuing to operate until 2039 to the tune of over 100 million tonnes of CO2.
This judgement comes fewer than two months after the IPCC released a report sounding the ‘final warning’ of irreversible and catastrophic climate change. Although ultimately the judge’s decision upholds the Aberpergwm coal mine in the midst of our climate crisis, the judgment agrees with our legal team on a number of crucial points, creating some optimism around a possible appeal. An appeal is no light undertaking in time and funding… but we need to throw everything we’ve got at stopping this when literally everything is on the line with climate-trashing projects like Aberpergwm coal mine. We’d definitely need your help via a new appeal crowd funder if our expert legal team advise us this is the way to go. If you’re able to chip in to pay for our current legal advice, our judicial review CrowdJustice crowdfunding page is still open.
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.
Find out more about the campaign against the Aberpergwm coal mine, as well as our campaigns against three other coal mine applications in the UK.
After 20 years of campaigning, last night (26/04/23) Merthyr Tydfil residents, Coal Action Network, Friends of the Earth Cymru, the Green Party, XR and other environmental campaigners finally collectively stopped Ffos-y-fran opencast coal with the Council’s refusal of permission to extend its climate chaos until 2024! This is an important step forward for the environmental movement across the UK.
Local people have suffered 16 years of dust, noise and a changing landscape, as 400 hectares of land got destroyed and 11 million tonnes of coal removed. The Welsh Government permitted what became the UK’s largest opencast coal mine to start in 2005 and, together with the local council, allowed it to keep mining after planning permission ran out in September 2022. An extension application to keep extracting coal until March 2024 was unanimously rejected by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council on the 26th April.
At the planning hearing, the Council’s Planning Officers recommended that the application be refused, as it does not comply with Welsh law on coal mining.
Over 1,400 letters of objection written by Coal Action Network’s supporters were highlighted in the planning hearing, showing the large national and international demand to keep all coal in the ground. This highlights that Councils are being watched when they decide fossil fuel project permissions and should make them more accountable.
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, the coal mining company, claimed that it was under no legal commitment to contribute to the restoration fund—which the council disagrees with; it failed to provide details of what proportion of coal used at Port Talbot came from Ffos-y-fran; it failed to pay dues to the council whilst mining without permission since Sept 2022. There is only a £15 million deposit in the restoration fund, when between £75m and £125m is required to put back the site
In the hearing, elected Councillors voiced serious concerns about the potential shortfall of at least £60 million to deliver the restoration long-promised to local residents, and the lack of enforcement action by the Council when the mining company simply kept mining after planning permission expired. They both need to be addressed urgently. We’ll be fighting for justice alongside local residents until it is delivered.
Over the years there has been wide and varied resistance to Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine. A non-exhaustive list includes:
In January 2017, the United Nations special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Baskut Tuncak visited Merthyr Tydfil. At the time he said, “The first observation that came to mind was how incredibly close this community is to a massive open pit coalmine...I heard allegations of very high rates of childhood asthma and cancer clusters within the community. But despite those allegations I didn't hear any evidence of a strong intervention by the government to investigate or any strong reaction by the companies concerned to investigate themselves.". In the resulting report it said, “the Aarhus Convention’s Compliance Committee found that the UK was in breach of its obligations to ensure access to justice by in essence excluding the public from court procedures by prohibitively expensive cost requirements.”
In the planning hearing, the issue of the mine workers’ jobs was raised, but the Council made clear that the coal company should have been preparing workers for the end of coal mining on the site, as has been expected since 2011, and highlighted that workers were still required to restore the site in the coming years. Coal Action Network and others call on the company, with support from the Welsh Government to ensure a truly just transition for workers which could include them being invited onto the current Universal Basic Income pilot.
We are relieved that the Council saw sense and put an end to this climate trashing coal mine. There is work to be done to ensure the best possible restoration of the site, bringing the area back into public use. The Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council need to take urgent enforcement action to stop coaling and ensure that the restoration is paid for, in full by the mining company.
Published: 27. 04. 2023
Today (25th April) people dressed as Rebecca Rioters protested against the Welsh Government’s failure to deliver a complete ban on coal mining on the steps of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). The Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1842 with the destruction of the toll gates which taxed rural people’s produce. The modern ‘Daughters of Rebecca’ dressed in 1800’s costume and demanded Members of the Senedd take urgent action to end coal mining and end the climate toll caused by coal mining and consumption.
Tomorrow (26th April) Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council planning committee will decide whether to allow Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine to continue mining coal until 31st March 2024 before refilling the void they’ve created. The Planning Officer has recommended that the application is refused, as it is not in line with Welsh Governmental policy on coal.
Rebecca from Merthyr Tydfil said, “We live opposite the massive Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine which, despite years of valiant community resistance, was forced upon us in 2007.”
Residents of Merthyr Tydfil have had to suffer its impacts for 15 years of our lives, but not suffered in silence - we've fought it tooth and nail for all those years to try and manage its excesses. We were sickened to have to endure another 8 months of them mining coal illegally, and now the threat of even longer! No more; enough is enough!”
In the 1800s, poor people, in rural west and mid Wales rose up against the punitive toll system that was taxing their produce and destroyed the toll gates, in what is called the ‘Rebecca Riots’. In their footsteps, Coal Action Network and its supporters—modern day ‘Daughters of Rebecca’—are protesting the Welsh Government’s lack of concrete action against coal mine expansion. We are pushing the Welsh government to implement a comprehensive ban on coal mining, as Scotland passed in October 2022.
The original Rebecca Riots were a series of protests and direct action by tenant farmers against the payment of fees to use the roads. During the riots, men disguised as women attacked the tollgates. They called themselves ‘Rebecca and her daughters’, all answering to the name Rebecca for anonymity from prosecution.
Further, the Daughters of Rebecca are calling upon the Welsh Government to prevent the extension at Aberpergwm underground mine, near Glynneath, Neath Port Talbot, to stop its climate toll. Coal Action Network took both the Welsh Government and the Coal Authority to court in March 2023, challenging their permitting Aberpergwm to expand when it goes against Welsh policy and the urgent need to take action on climate change. A judge’s decision is awaited. If she decides that either the Welsh Government or the Coal Authority misjudged their powers the relevant public body will be asked to remake their decision, which could close Aberpergwm coal mine.
Date: Wednesday 26 April 2023
Time: from 4:30pm (hearing starts at 5pm)
Location: Council Chambers, Civic Centre, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8AN
Bring: banners, signs, loud-hailers, or just yourself!
Ffos-y-fran is a large opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales which has operated for over 15 years. On 06th September 2022, planning permission for the opencast coal mining came to an end… but the mining company continues mining an average of 1,000 tonnes of coal every day (emitting the equivalent CO2 to burning 1.5 million litres of petrol)! The local Council claims the mining company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd lied about stopping mining but still refuses to take any action to stop the illicit coal mining happening at Ffos-y-fran. This makes a mockery of local democracy, equality in law, and Welsh Government's climate commitments.
On Wednesday 26th April, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council will meet to decide whether to approve or reject the mining company's application to officially extend the coal mine until 31 March 2024. The Councillors must listen to local residents suffering noise and dust pollution for over a decade, and reject this expansion in the midst of our climate emergency. We all have a stake in this, so join us outside and ensure the Councillors can't ignore your opposition.
In March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the body of the world's leading climate scientists, released the last instalment of their sixth assessment report (AR6). This delivered a "final warning" – the comprehensive review of the climate crisis took hundreds of scientists eight years to compile and runs to thousands of pages, but boiled down to one message: act now, or it will be too late.
Yet, according to the report, we still have hope of staying within 1.5°C. Hoesung Lee, the chair of the IPCC, said: “This synthesis report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a livable sustainable future for all.”
Together, as part of this global movement, we need to keep the pressure on the governments, financiers, insurers, and fossil fuel companies that are pushing us deeper into climate crisis, putting profits above people and our planet. We've compiled five actions you can take with us, based on the report's findings and recommendations.
According to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, “no new coal and the phasing out of coal by 2030 in OECD countries” is step #1 to accelerate climate action.
Yet Wales is about to decide whether to expand the UK's biggest opencast coal mine, by four years and 2 million tonnes of coal. Sign our petition to call on the Welsh Government to stop this from going ahead: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/don-t-expand-uk-s-biggest-opencast-coal-mine.
The reports states there will be dire consequences if countries scrap carbon pledges. That’s exactly what the Whitehaven coal mine would do, which was approved by the UK government last December.
It's still possible to stop the mine, and our friends at South Lakes Action on Climate Change want to do – but we need your help. Donate to help them mount a Judicial Review against Whitehaven coal mine in Cumbria: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/challenge-the-cumbria-coal-mine/.
Guterres points to the backers of fossil fuel companies. Adani’s Carmichael coal mine can only be financed because Lloyd's of London syndicate Probitas 1492 insures it. No insurance = no coal mine.
Sign up to tell Probitas staff to drop this project: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/take-regular-action-to-stop-adani.
Insurers listen up: oil&gas shouldn’t be funded or licensed…so don’t insure it! Set to be the world’s biggest heated oil pipeline, EACOP must be stopped.
Take regular action emailing insurance staff to warn them not to insure EACOP: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/take-regular-action-to-stopeacop-2/.
As we said, the report isn't without hope: “as it shows, the 1.5-degree limit is achievable. But it will take a quantum leap in climate action.”
If you want to get inspired, we recommend watching FINITE: The Climate of Change, an award-winning feature documentary about people standing up against the fossil fuel industry. Check out their Twitter for details of any upcoming screenings: https://twitter.com/finitedoc. Or you can watch FINITE online now via WOWFilm. Only available for 200 views, over half have gone already, so make sure not to miss it! The price is “pay what you feel. If you can, please donate so they can keep making films.
Following a week of protests, Cincinnati Global’s syndicate at Lloyd’s confirmed that it will not insure the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, which has been the subject of international protests.
(Nick Chalk), Active Underwriter with Cincinnati at Lloyd’s confirmed verbally with a member of the Insure our Future campaign, “We 100% do not write this project and we have no intention of ever writing it.”
“Thousands of Ekō and Coal Action Network members sent over 4 millions of emails, thousands of tweets and hundreds of phone calls to 3,140 Lloyd’s managing agents staff, demonstrating to the insurers the unfailing mobilization of people worldwide against the coverage of the shameful EACOP and any new destructive fossil projects, said Leyla Larbi, of international NGO Ekō.”
Talbot (AIG) at Lloyd’s, which has been equally targeted, also by street demonstrations, did not make a statement. Parent company AIG was also targeted the same week by protests at its New York headquarters on EACOP.
Isobel Tarr of Coal Action Network said “The pressure will continue to grow on Talbot and AIG to get them to commit to ruling out EACOP. When their counterparts in the Lloyd’s marketplace have started to rule out this monstrous pipeline, Talbot’s silence starts to sound like complicity with the project and all its associated climate impacts and human rights abuses.”
Following these protests, more accounts of associated human rights abuses have surfaced, as a French civil court heard the case against Total’s conduct brought by African Civil Society organisations. Witnesses detailed the French oil giant’s forceful acquisition of land and property leaving families without food. The case was ruled inadmissible on a technicality.
Meanwhile, community leaders in Uganda have reported an escalation in ‘phsychological torture’, by the Ugandan state, including harrasment and detentions, as the French oil company Total Energies and the Chinese state company CNOOC are moving ahead with the oilfields and pipeline projects.
Baraka Lenga, of the Tanzanian chapter of the international multi-faith network GreenFaith, said: “We applaud Cincinnati Global’s syndicate at Lloyd’s for taking a stand and refusing to insure the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline. Their decision sends a strong message that the environmental and human rights impacts of this project cannot be ignored. However, Talbot’s silence in response to the protests is concerning. We urge them and AIG to listen to the concerns of local communities and to prioritize the protection of people and the planet above profit.”
ENDS
The EACOP would be the world’s biggest heated oil pipeline, stretching nearly 900 miles (1,443 kilometers) through the heart of East Africa from Uganda to Tanzania. The project, developed by the French oil company Total Energies and the Chinese state company CNOOC, has already caused large-scale displacement of local communities and poses grave risks to protected environments, water sources and wetlands in both Uganda and Tanzania. Those include the Lake Victoria basin, which 40 millions of people rely upon for drinking water and food production. If completed, it would also enable the extraction and transport of enough oil to generate over 34 million tons of CO2 emissions per year at peak production, exacerbating the ongoing climate emergency.
#StopEACOP
Since its inception, the project has faced opposition from affected communities along the pipeline route and their advocates, as well as the global #StopEACOP campaign that they built. For more on this, visit www.stopeacop.net.
To date, 24 banks and 23 insurance companies have ruled out providing support to the EACOP project due to the unacceptable environment and human rights impacts. The EACOP project backers are currently looking for funding and for re/insurance and are approaching the London financial and insurance markets for support. And social movements are responding with creative and direct action
Talbot Underwriting Ltd
Talbot is part of the AIG group of companies and manages the syndicate 1183 at Lloyd’s of London. AIG sets ESG policy for Talbot and has policies against some oil extraction including tar sands, but is also yet to comment on EACOP.
Cincinnati Global Underwriting Ltd
Cincinnati, which manages syndicate 318 at Lloyd’s, has previously issued public statements ruling out Adani Carmichael coal mine and the Trans Mountain Pipeline (Tar Sands)
We arrived outside the Cardiff courts to press teams and a strong demonstration in support of our case for a more sustainable future in Wales and the UK—one that cannot have coal in it. Welsh people are standing up to say they want to carve out a future that doesn’t carve up more of their land for coal mining, and don’t want Wales to fuel further climate chaos – the effects of which are already being felt there with flooding and storms.
Recommended background: illustrated guide to how a coal mine gets permission in the UK.
Coal Action Network’s Barrister, Estelle Dehon KC—with Richard Buxton Solicitors—opened on the morning of 15th March with a blistering argument laying out what has happened and why:
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.
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.
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.
Job Title: Operations Administrator (Finance)
Salary: £31,200 pro rata FTE
Hours: 21 hours per week (3 days)
Place of work: Remote
Contract type: Permanent
Application closing date: Tuesday 4th April (midnight)
Interview date: Thursday 13th April
Start date (negotiable): 12th June
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.
Please read Recruitment pack Operations Administrator (Finance) before applying for this role. This includes Role Responsibilities and Person Specification, and more details on the application process.
The application closing date is Tuesday 4th April (midnight)
Job Title: Campaigner: Fossil Fuel Insurance (UK)
Salary: £31,200 pro rata FTE
Hours: 21 hours per week (3 days)
Place of work: Remote
Contract type: Permanent
Application closing date: Tuesday 18th April (midnight)
Interview date: Thursday 27th April
Start date (negotiable): 26th June
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.
Please read Recruitment pack Fossil Fuel Finance Campaigner (UK)-3 before applying for the role.
This includes Role Responsibilities and Person Specification, a background to the role plus further information on the application process.
Deadline for applications is midnight Tuesday 18th April 2023
