Blog Archives - Page 17 of 19 - Coal Action Network

Damning new report reveals the indigenous communities torn up by coal imports that continue to power Europe and its steel industry

Today, Tuesday 30^th March, Still Burning - a network against hard coal and neocolonialism – releases a new report Still Burning. The report shines a spotlight on Europe's continued coal imports in the run-up to COP26. It also tells the harrowing but little-known stories of the communities from Russia, Colombia, the USA, and Australia whose homes and way of life are literally torn up to mine the coal beneath them, suffering widespread human rights abuses.

Coal production around Europe is falling, but in Russia it’s rising to compensate and to extend the market eastwards.

Some European governments have announced coal power phase-outs, but some like in Germany are so far away (2038) as to be almost meaningless. Even in countries where coal for electricity has been phased out - such as Austria - are consuming coal to make steel. In fact in Austria coal-fired blast furnaces, are the single biggest site emitters of CO2 in the country.

There is an urgent need to stop all coal extraction and decarbonise the electricity and steel making industries.

You can download the report from https://stillburning.net/book/

Still Burning concludes that European utilities and governments must bear more responsibility for the disaster that is unfolding in coal producing regions, and so must act to halt and reverse the damage as well as compensate those impacted.

Our high energy lifestyles are fuelled by coal mines abroad forced on people unfortunate enough to live close to large coal deposits. These people rarely see any of the financial wealth raised from the exports to Europe of coal from under their homes. Instead, they are left with all the local harms and often the worst impacts of climate change.

Continues below...

Russia is the biggest exporter of coal to Europe supplying 41% of the coal imported into the European Union in 2017. 76% of Russia’s coal is mined in Kuzbass – an area in southwest Siberia and most of the coal produced there is shipped to Europe and Asia.

Valentina Bekrinova, a native Shor person living in the village of Chuvashka, Kuzbass, Siberia says, “In front of the house is the Sibirginsky mine. On the other side of the house there is a waste tip from another mine. Our village is surrounded by coal mining, and the dust which blows from the mines and waste heaps coats everything…I’m afraid that Shor people will soon become extinct. This is why the most important thing is the protection of our ecology, our rivers, our taiga for the protection of our nation. We cannot live without [them].”

While the impacts of burning coal in power station on our climate receives some attention the human and local ecological consequences are almost always overlooked. But the consequences are dire:

“I wish that people became more aware of where their coal comes from. And about the consequences” says Luz Angela Uriana Epiayu, mother of Moisés Daniel, a young child who is seriously ill with lung disease living next to the Cerrejón coal mine, owned by foreign interests.

The giant open-pit Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, northern Colombia. The mine is the biggest of its kind in the world and is jointly owned by Anglo American, BHP and Glencore. The Cerrejón mine is in Wayúu indigenous territory and when mining began over 30 years ago, local people were not consulted. Instead their lands were seized, and communities were forcibly displaced, violating their constitutional land rights. The Colombian government has failed to adequately compensate any of the affected communities. Pollution and dust from the coal mine has caused the contamination of water supplies and the air.

Narlis Guzmán Angulo a human rights defender from Cesar in Colombia living near the Drummond coal mine says, “In La Sierra we have always been able to feed ourselves with our agriculture, but that is over... Opencast coal mining ruined everything. It has brought us all this: the collapse of the social fabric, unemployment, death, missing persons, displaced persons, political corruption, the loss of the vocation of our ancestors, the loss of our roots, environmental pollution, disease, prostitution, the sexual commercialisation of children, drug addiction, and poisoned water...”.

The answer to these problems is not to open more coal mines in Europe. True solidarity with people at the front-lines of coal extraction means closing all coal mines globally and to move rapidly away from technology which relies on coal and produces vast emissions.

Read the full report https://stillburning.net/book/ and also see films about these issues by Still Burning here.

Why now?

‘Public controversy’ (this is literally your efforts!).
The Sixth carbon budget was released in December—this coal mine alone would exceed the sub-allocation for active and old mines. You've since made it impossible for the Council and government to ignore that.
Legal challenges (last week West Cumbria Mining Ltd applied for a Judicial Review of the Council’s decision to reconsider the application – a decision that again you helped make happen).

What now?

A public inquiry is a formal process started by a Minister (Robert Jenrick in this case) and run by The Planning Inspectorate where the facts of the case are examined more closely than in a council hearing. We now have another opportunity to expose the falsehoods within justifications for the West Cumbria coal mine and highlight the reasons it must never go ahead. These include:

Over 85% of the mined coal would be exported, maybe more with high sulphur concentrations that are too much for the British steel industry – how does ‘domestic demand’ justify that?
There’s nothing ‘neutral’ in new coal – it’s time to put that industry myth to bed.
Jobs will be limited in time and number, and lower paid compared to what’s possible with investment in skilled green jobs.
Approving new coal mines is incompatible with UK’s decarbonisation targets – and the Climate Change Committee has our backs on that.
Approving a new coal mine during the same year the UK hosts the G7 and the COP26 summits, and as co-hosts the Powering Past Coal Alliance would signal to other countries they can pay lip-service to their climate change commitments.

As a grassroots supporter group, Coal Action Network will do what we always do, and that’s to fight for front-line communities to get their knowledge and voices heard in spaces like this public inquiry. We’ll keep you updated—but follow-us on Twitter if you use it, we'd like to share things with you there.

Major Lloyd’s of London insurers Brit and Hiscox are the latest firms to rule out insurance for Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine project.

Brit was the sixth insurer to stop underwriting risks directly related to or associated with Adani’s Carmichael coal mine project, joining AXA XL, Liberty Mutual, and HDI Talanx, who were insuring the coal mine before ruling out further involvement, and Lloyd’s insurers Apollo and Aspen Re, who committed to stop underwriting the project when active policies expire. Hiscox not only ruled out insuring Adani but brought in policy to stop future insurance for all new coal mines.

Brit and Hiscox’s commitments are major blows to Adani’s disastrous Carmichael coal project. Lloyd’s of London was one of the last places on Earth that Adani could turn to find insurance, and they were one of the largest remaining insurers. Now, Lloyd’s doors are just inches from being closed to Adani, for good.

These announcements came after 750 Coal Action Network supporters flooded the inboxes and phone lines of Brit and Hiscox. This pressure was in solidarity with the ongoing action taken by the Australian Stop Adani movement. Locals in Coffs Harbour and the Gold Coast (Australia) had been hounding Brit and Hiscox for months and our combined pressured worked. Now we’re uniting the voices of community members in West Cumbria resisting the Woodhouse Colliery and Australian Stop Adani protesters to push Lloyd’s even further. That's why on the 16th March we're holding an online rally to take action together and plan big bold action for 2021.

Liisa from Stop Adani Coffs Harbour describes the campaign: "For months we got no formal response from Brit. We were getting worried – but we kept at it, sharing our stories, adapting our tactics, and trying new things. We were buoyed by conversations with some Brit staff in London, who were also concerned about the Great Barrier Reef, bushfires and the role of coal in fueling these climate impacts.

Our unrelenting phone calls, emails and calendar reminders, combined with the actions of other #StopAdani groups and our allies in UK, made ripples which grew to a wave that Brit could not ignore."

Tonight, 18^th February 2021, marks the final shipment of coal mined from the North East of England. This marks a momentous victory for the years of anti-coal action, most recently the successfully defeated open cast coal mine application in Dewley Hill, near Newcastle.

The heritage of coal exports from the North East of England goes back to the 13^th Century, but it has increasingly become a legacy in decline and with it, levels of deprivation that are also seen in other former-coalfield regions of the UK. The government must do more to ensure there is a just transition from jobs in coal and fossil fuels, to jobs in a genuinely green economy.

Jude Campbell, who campaigned against an application for a new coal mine in Dewley Hill from 2019-2021, says “As a former union rep the prospect of redundancy… does not sit easily with me. However, [coal is] a declining industry and it is grossly irresponsible to promise these workers employment in this industry ad infinitum when coal is on the way out in favour of green technologies”.

So today, at the end of an era, would be an apt landmark for government to ‘level up’ by renewing and acting on their commitment to materially support a sustainable economy in the North East of England.

With the UK’s climate commitments (not least to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2024/5) and the declining contribution of coal to the national grid, this day was inevitable – and critical if the UK is serious about taking action on climate change. Coal remains the single largest emitter of CO2 in the world, out-stripping oil and gas. Without a rapid and drastic reduction in the use of coal, catastrophic climate change is certain.

Tonight, coal from Durham open cast coal mine, operated by Hargreaves, will leave the UK on a ship from Longwave Port of Tyne, most likely to be burned in a power station to produce electricity. This coal mine ceased actively extracting coal in 2020. Now Hargreaves is merely transporting mined coal out of the mine - the last open cast coal mine to do so in the North East after Bradley open cast coal mine in County Durham, operated by Banks’ Group, had its application for extension rejected and closed in August 2020.

“Coal is a proud part of our history in the North East, but it is not our future” – Jos, Newcastle.

Published: 18.02.2021

People across Australia have been fighting for 10 years to stop one on the most devastating mining projects currently being planned on the globe. The Adani coal mine, if it goes ahead, will open up the Galilee basin - one of the biggest untouched coal reserves on the planet - paving the way for at least eight more coal mines to be built. All at a time when scientists are warning we can't build any more fossil fuel infrastructure if we want to avoid catastrophic global heating.

Australia is already the world's number one exporter of coal and these mega-mines would double their current output! If that isn't enough, if built, Adani’s Carmichael mine will:

Destroy the ancestral lands, waters and cultures of Indigenous people.
Allow 500 more coal ships to travel through the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area every year for 60 years.
Get access to 270 billion of Queensland's precious groundwater for 60 years, for free.
Risk damaging aquifers of the Great Artesian Basin.

People across Australia have been fighting for 10 years to stop one on the most devastating mining projects currently being planned on the globe. Folks in Australia have asked for our help to stop Adani and here's why...

On the front line of the Adani mine standing their ground are the Wangan and Jagalingou people who have never given their free, prior, and informed consent to Adani’s mine and have said "No" to Adani 5 times. Adani has not only stolen their land (with the government's permission) but also bankrupted their spokesperson.

The Wangan and Jagalingou people are joined by others from across Australia standing up to corrupt politicians and the mining giants who own them. Together they have built the biggest climate movement in Australia's history. The Stop Adani movement have made this mine an iconic fight for climate justice - rallying across the country, blocking the train lines leading to Adani's coal port, occupying politicians offices, and building support amongst the majority of Australians for the #StopAdani campaign.

The campaign has been massively successful stopping commercial banks across the world investing in the project, and getting contractors associated with the project to pull out. However, as it stands, this mine will go ahead. That's why they are asking for people in the UK to join them in solidarity to Stop Adani.

Last year documents were leaked showing that Lloyd's of London are insuring the Adani mine. This kicked off a wave of actions targeting the individual insurance companies that make up the Lloyd's marketplace. The majority of the 70+ insurance companies involved have committed to not reinsure Adani. The 13 left are holding out and are getting so used to hearing Australian accents on the phone that they just hang up when they hear them.

The Stop Adani movement have asked people in the UK to join them and help get these last few insurers to rule out the project. If the coal mine can't get insured then it can't operate.

TAKE ACTION - You can get involved by contacting Lloyd's of London and asking them to rule out the project.

Today [8th February 2021], youth climate activists added their voice against the planned coking coal mine in West Cumbria. Elijah McKenzie-Jackson submitted a 111,475 signature petition to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government asking Robert Jenrick MP to stop the planned coal mine. The petition was delivered by post and supported by a digital demonstration of 72 young activists.

Elijah says, “In the year where the UK hosts the COP26 summit the UK government must call in and refuse an application to mine coking coal, showing its commitment to decarbonising the steel sector.”

Despite being a contentious issue for several years was Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said that he would allow the Cumbria County Council planning approval to stand. He said the matter was a ‘local issue’. In reality, the emissions equal 2% of the UK's carbon footprint, which makes it a decision of national importance. This petition and digital protest calls on him to change his mind and save face in the year the UK hosts both the Conference of Parties 26 (COP26) counter climate change summit and meeting of the G7 nations.

In West Cumbria Mining Ltd.’s proposal, the new coal mine would produce nearly three million tonnes of coking coal a year and result in nine million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions every year. Despite this, West Cumbria Mining Ltd. convinced Cumbria County Council that this mine would be carbon neutral.

As Economist Professor Paul Ekins of University College London explains in a video by the Coal Action Network the idea this mine would be carbon neutral as “nonsense”. He explains, “The notion that opening new coal mines in England will not lead to increasing greenhouse gas emissions is quite simply, economic nonsense and here's why. Opening a new coal mine does not mean that other coal mines will produce less coal or close. It simply means that there will be more coal dug up, looking for markets and the markets will expand to accommodate it. That is the story of coal since the industrial revolution.”

The mine would supply ‘coking’ coal to steel works, at least 85% of which would be exported to Europe as it is too high in sulphur to be burnt in large quantities in the two large UK steel works, in Port Talbot and Scunthorpe which use coking coal. Unless it’s left in the ground, the coal will contribute to climate change, the burden of which will fall disproportionately on young people, especially those living in the Global South. Their voice must be heard in this debate.

18 year old Jahnavee Palsodkar said, "I am from India which is considered to be in both the global south and most affected people and areas (MAPA) and I wanted to show that the UK is sending the wrong signal to the rest of the world in approving this coking coal mine. By doing this, they are contradicting themselves while they plan to host the COP 26 in November. Concrete climate policy is shown through action, not words.

The emissions it will cause will lead to the climate crisis increasing worldwide. The decision makers are disregarding the plight of the MAPA due to the menace of climate change. It is extremely inhumane to advocate for a project that will devastate the life of so many from the global south.

I started advocating for climate justice because I saw that it is affecting the world disproportionately. The global south are already facing the major brunt of climate crisis caused mostly by the global north, such as European countries and the US. In this situation, it is the Global North's moral responsibility to minimise their carbon emissions and consumption so as to ease the suffering of their brethren across the earth. And it is my responsibility to do my best to advocate for the same."

These young people are adding their voices to that of eminent scientist James Hansen, Lord Deben, Chairman of the Climate Change Committee, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and over 80 NGOs so far who have called on the government to call in this decision, start a public inquiry and reject the application.

Isabella Bridgman from Cockermouth in Cumbria says, I call on the Secretary of State to call in this mine, in recognition that approving such a mine when the UK is set to host COP26 this year, and has committed to reach carbon neutral by 2050, is not only ridiculous, but actively harmful. West Cumbria deserves better than a polluting mine whose existence is unsustainable in the long term due to the UK governments commitment to reaching net-zero carbon by 2050.

Hannah Wright (16) from Kendal, Cumbria said “The decision to build a coal mine doesn’t make sense for two reasons. Firstly, this decision shouldn’t just be for the local government to make, as the impact of the coal mine won’t just affect Cumbria, a decision of this scale and impact should be made on a national level. Secondly it doesn’t make sense that by 2035 the UK will stop using coal for steel making to meet its climate targets, meaning the coal mine in Cumbria will only be short term. So why not invest in a new source of green energy which will help to generate jobs and be both sustainable environmentally and economically?"

Until Cumbria County Council formally approves the mine, Robert Jenrick can reverse his previous decision not to call in the application for government arbitration. In the year the UK hosts COP26 and the G7 decisions like this could have global consequences.

Thanks to everyone who helped, this action was a success and resulted in this coverage, ‘Coal is not the goal’: Teenage climate activists deliver petition to government over Cumbria coal mine

Opposition is growing to a plan for a massive underground coking coal mine under the sea near Whitehaven, in the north west of England. Cumbria County Council gave permission for the mine to extract nearly 3 million tonnes of coal until 2049. The coal is mostly for export and is ‘coking’ coal that would be consumed by the carbon-intensive steel industry. [1] Despite this, the mining company claim the coal mined would be ‘carbon neutral’.., and the Council believed them! Mining new coal can never be carbon neutral of course, but if there’s any doubt, here’s an expert explaining why. We're angry that the government is failing to stop this coal mine, not least in the same year that it hosts the COP26 global climate summit. The government can still stop this mine.
Thanks to everyone who sent us photos are part of this process. We are going to be putting them into a film and releasing them to the media and on social media soon. Watch this space!

For those who sent us photos, you agreed that: By sending us a photo, you and your parent/guardian agree for us to use the photo in the video described, on our website and social media, and to share with third-party video producers and media. You also understand that you may be identifiable from the photo and the photo may be used in related campaigns in the future. We won't publish your name unless it’s in your image, or we ask you first. If you change your mind later, we can delete your photo but we cannot remove it where others have saved it/shared it.

Many thanks,

Anne Harris and the team at Coal Action Network

References

[1] Cumbria County Council Executive Director - Economy and Infrastructure, Development

control and regulation committee Application Reference No:4/17/90077.17 (2 October 2020)

[2] Ember, Europe’s coal power collapse exposes steel plants as Europe’s biggest emitters (2019) https://ember-climate.org/project/ets-2019-release/

What's been proposed?

West Cumbria Mining Ltd. want to extract 2.78 million tonnes of coking coal a year from under the sea near Whitehaven in a ‘deep’ coal mine. Cumbria County Council gave permission for them to do so until 2049 in October 2020. The coal is predominantly for export and would be consumed by the steel industry.

What is coking coal?

Coking coal is a type of coal used in steel works to create steel using blast furnaces. In the UK, the second and third biggest single site emitters of CO2e (gasses which cause climate change) are Port Talbot and Scunthorpe steel works respectively, which both use coking coal.ⁱ Coking coal (also known as metallurgical coal) is a reducing agent in the creation of steel from iron. It has a higher monetary value than thermal coal which is used in power stations to generate electricity.

Producing steel from coal is a high carbon process. If this mine were to go ahead and the coal was extracted and consumed it would produce 9 million tonnes of CO2e a year,ⁱⁱ at a time when we need to drastically reduce the emissions, especially in the most affluent countries.

Where would the coal go if it was extracted?

West Cumbria Mining Ltd. say that 83% of the coal extracted would be sold abroad,ⁱⁱⁱ via the port at Redcar potentially to Europe. Only up to 17% is expected to be used in the UK^iv because this coking coal has a high sulphur content.^v If the British steel industry use too much, it risks exceeding the sulphur dioxide limits plants must adhere to. Sulphur dioxide causes acid rain.

But we need coking coal to make steel don't we?

No. Using coking coal is just one way to produce steel. Two of the four large steel manufacturers in the UK (Liberty Steel and Celsa) use electric arc furnaces to recycle scrap steel into new steel. This doesn't use coking coal. Direct Reduction Iron, another way to make steel, doesn't rely on coal to reduce the iron, although sometimes it does use it.^vi

Most of the big steel makers are investing and innovating so that they can decarbonise the steel sector. There aren't big UK projects doing this at the moment. The HYBRIT project in Sweden is expecting to be making commercial-scale steel by 2026.^vii Various methods are being worked on, including those looking to use hydrogen and those which propose using unsustainable fuels like fossil gas to reduce iron until green hydrogen (where the energy comes from renewable electricity) is available. The Climate Change Committee has said, “Government should set targets for ore-based steelmaking ... in the UK to reach near-zero emissions by 2035”. When this happens the UK won't be using any coking coal by 2035, 14 years before this mine is due to stop production.^viii

Onland infrastructure of the proposed mine, the majority of the extraction site is below the sea

What's the process so far?

Cumbria County Council have approved the application for a deep coal mine twice, although the councillors showed that they didn't fully understand the climate change implications. Amendments were made to the first application due to a successful Judicial Review. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, said that if the Council was intending to approve the application he would consider calling it in and making the decision himself. He has since decided not to intervene.

Why does this decision matter?

Steel making using coal is an emissions intensive industry. This is worsening the impacts of climate change and increasing the negative impacts across communities globally as well as biodiversity collapse. The UK is hosting the COP26 climate change summit in November of this year. The government is pushing the Powering Past Coal Alliance and wants to be seen as active on action on climate change issues. Approving a new coal mine goes against this. Failure to intervene in this matter sends a signal to other governments that it’s acceptable to call yourself a ‘leader’ on climate change whilst continuing climate-wrecking practices. Following Robert Jenrick's decision, the Climate Change Committee wrote to him asking him to outlining the climate and international political issues of his decision.^ix

What can we do to stop this application?

There are a number of groups who are working to ensure that this mine does not get the full go-ahead. Permission is still needed for the section of the mine under the sea from the Marine Management Organisation and from the Coal Authority.

You could sign our petition asking Robert Jenrick to reconsider his decision not to intervene in this application by launching a public inquiry.
Donate to South Lakes Action on Climate Change's crowd funder to pursue legal challenges against the government and Cumbria County Council for their decisions on this issue.
Sign up to the Coal Action Network's email list, check out our website, or follow us on twitter and facebook to find out about our exciting campaigns where we will work with you to carry out (covid secure) actions against the mine.

References

iEmber, Coal Free Kingdom (13th November 2019) https://ember-climate.org/project/coal-free-kingdom/ and Drax Group, Enabling a zero carbon, lower cost energy future page 39 (2019) https://www.drax.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Drax_AR2019_Web.pdf

iiCumbria County Council Executive Director - Economy and Infrastructure, Development control and regulation committee Application Reference No:4/17/90077.17 (2 October 2020) point 7.107 page 35

iiiCumbria County Council Executive Director - Economy and Infrastructure, Development control and regulation committee Application Reference No:4/17/90077.17(2 October 2020) point 7.130 page 38

iv0.36 million tonnes out of 2.78 million tonnes produced annually Cumbria County Council Executive Director - Economy and Infrastructure, Development control and regulation committee Application Reference No:4/17/90077.17 (2 October 2020) point 7.17 page 20

vCumbria County Council Executive Director - Economy and Infrastructure, Development control and regulation committee Application Reference No:4/17/90077.17 (2 October 2020) multiple points page 32

viInternational Iron Metallics Association, DRI production, viewed 1 February 2021, https://www.metallics.org/dri-production.html

viiBloomberg Green, Sweden Moves Closer to Making Fossil-Fuel-Free Steel (31 August 2020)

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/sweden-advances-on-road-to-fossil-free-steel-with-three-way-jv

viiiClimate Change Committee, Policies for the Sixth Carbon Budget and Net Zero (December 2020) https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/sixth-carbon-budget/page 96, table 4.1

ixCImate Change Committee, Letter: Deep Coal Mining in the UK (29^th January 2020) https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/letter-deep-coal-mining-in-the-uk/

We're disappointed to let you know that on the 6^th January 2020, the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick said that the government will not step in and review Cumbria County Council's decision to approve the Woodhouse Colliery Application.

West Cumbria Mining want to extract nearly 3 million tonnes of coking coal for export to Europe every year until 2049 from a site next to the coast at Whitehaven, Cumbria. In October 2020 Cumbria Council approved the amended application by West Cumbria Mining. Robert Jenrick has said in advance of the hearing, that if this were the decision he would consider 'calling it in' and deciding the application himself.

Campaign Group, South Lakes Action on Climate Change, towards transitions said in a statement, "The Secretary of State has decided NOT to "call in" the planning application! We are extremely disappointed (but not surprised) that Robert Jenrick is insisting that West Cumbria Mining's plan to extract nearly 3 million tonnes of coal a year is not considered to be of national importance, and can be simply a local decision. Even though Cumbria County Council restricted the permission to the end of 2049, rather than 2070 [as WCM had applied for] this is still an outrageous decision that flies in the face of the UK's promises to address climate change and their claim to leadership through this year's COP 26.

Very little of this coal will be suitable for the UK steel industry, and it will be exported with no enforceable control on where or how it is used. It will give rise to around 9 million tonnes of CO2e emissions annually for the next 30 years, and is likely to undermine both the decarbonisation of the steel industry and also the emerging pledges to reduce emissions.

However this is not the end of the struggle. Even before County Council issues the Decision Notice, SLACC's legal team at Richard Buxtons Solicitors will be assessing the options for taking further legal action." If you'd like to help SLACC's continued action against this application, could you donate to, or share their crowdfunder https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/westcumbriamineslacc/

At the October planning hearing it was clear that several of the Cumbria County Councillor's did not fully understand the climate change impacts of the proposal. Nor did they understand the submission from Professor Paul Ekins showing that extracting coking coal in the UK increases the amount of coal consumed, as it will be used in addition to that imported to Europe from abroad.

This is a missed opportunity for the UK government to show a commitment to tackling climate change and to place their faith in steel companies converting to use existing and developing ways to produce steel without coal. There are various ways being investigated to further this campaign against the mine. Sign up to our email list to be part of it.

Today Newcastle City Council stood with many of it’s residents and unanimously rejected Banks Group’s proposal to extract 800.000 tonnes of thermal coal from Dewley Hill!

We’re delighted at this result. At a virtual hearing councillors followed the Planning Officer’s advice and rejected the application due to five contraventions of the Newcastle Development and Allocations Plan 2015-2030; four contraventions of the Core strategy and Urban Core plan for Gateshead and Newcastle 2010-2030, a breach of the Northumberland minerals plan and paragraph 211a of the National Planning Policy Framework.

Brilliant local group against the application, Defend Dewley Hill are delighted by the result. Local resident Jos Forester-Melville said, “None of us set out on the journey to become activists, but this bunch of taxi drivers, occupational therapists, managers, shop assistants, care workers, teachers, young and older people alike, have joined forces to defend the land we live on and have inadvertently become a campaign group together striving to see an end to fossil fuels. We know that coal is the most catastrophic fossil fuel for our climate and that industries such as steel are rapidly developing new technology to eradicate coal use. We are so pleased that the council listened to common sense and stopped this application.”

There are currently no other applications for new opencast coal mines in the UK. What an incredible position to be in. There is only one opencast operating in England, it is due to close this year. There are none in Scotland and only two in Wales. We sincerely hope that the coal companies realise that “Coal is our heritage, not our future” as local people living in the North East’s ex-mining villages keep saying.

Defend Dewley Hill had instructed Richard Buxton, environmental solicitors, to contact the council on their behalf over worries that the Planning Officer’s report underestimated the likely impact on climate change; overestimated the benefit from fireclay and failed to properly protect local residents from noise and other impacts. The nearest homes are just 68m from the boundary of the extraction. The letter to the Planning Committee can be seen here.

Despite covid restrictions there have been numerous actions against this application this year. Cheeky supporters of the campaign dropped large banners from the High Level bridge in the City centre this week while pixies put out posters in bus shelters showing Banks Group’s real motivations. Check out the pictures.

Europe is Still Burning....

STOP PRESS: Public inquiry called into West Cumbria coal mine!

In a surprise decision, the West Cumbria coal mine application is going to a public inquiry called by Robert Jenrick (Secretary of State), announced late yesterday (11.03.2021). Climate change will never be a local issue.

Why now?

What now?

Victory - Brit will never insure Adani coal mine

Tonight, the end of an 800-year era for coal exports from the North East of England

Lloyd's of London Insure the Adani Mega-mine

“Nothing neutral in new coal” - youth activists pressure government to stop coking coal mine

“Nothing neutral in new coal” - youth activists pressure government to stop coking coal mine

Urgent youth virtual action

Key facts and figures on the West Cumbria Mining Project

What's been proposed?

What is coking coal?

Where would the coal go if it was extracted?

What's the process so far?

Why does this decision matter?

References

Disappointment as Government allows underground coking coal mine application to go ahead

Local campaigners save Dewley Hill from Banks Group's opencast plan