Coal Action Network has commissioned research revealing massive debts of over £29million, Cayman Islands tax havens, corporate structures that undermine responsibility, and taxes that may not get paid.
If West Cumbria Mining Ltd gain planning permission for the coal mine, the local council will apply ‘section 106 conditions’ that’ll mandate its responsibilities such as remediating the environment at the end of mining. Legally, West Cumbria Mining Ltd. will need to fulfil these conditions (though they’re often ignored) as well as other responsibilities such as compensation if things go wrong – but it doesn’t have its own money to do that, as it’s financially dependent on EMR Capital. If these liabilities add up to more than the likely profit, EMR Capital could just asset-strip what little West Cumbria Mining Ltd owns, and walk away, leaving taxpayers in the UK to clean up the mess. A similar event happened with Margam opencast coal mine in 2010.
A private equity fund that specialises in investments within the mining sector. EMR Capital Resources Fund 1, LP. and EMR Capital Investment (No.3B) Pte. Ltd have offices in the Cayman Islands tax haven, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. The company typically invests in a mine for 3-5 years, then sells it onto another private equity fund at a profit.
Selling a company at a profit is often done by cutting costs so the company is more profitable, at least in the short-term. Costs can be reduced by cutting employees (which happened recently), benefits, and operating standards such as environmental protection. The location of the company’s offices mean it has little accountability to the UK government, or us, if things go wrong such as people are injured or the environment requires remediation.
EMR Capital Investment has loaned West Cumbria Mining Ltd at least £29 MILLION so far. The interest on a portion of this loan rose to 15% in 2020. As of 2020, West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Ltd owed £947,545 in interest alone. West Cumbria Mining Ltd’s 2020 annual financial report documents that the company’s viability is dependent on EMR Capital’s financial support.
This means that West Cumbria Mining Ltd is vulnerable to bankruptcy if EMR Capital Investment pull out, which it has reportedly started to consider. That could mean that the mine is started, causing a huge amount of local environmental damage, but not completed, with the taxpayer having to fix the environment to the extent it can afford to.
West Cumbria Mining (Holdings) Ltd is operating over £12million in losses that’ll be offset against any future trading profit. Together with repaying its loan of £29 million to EMR Capital Investment and huge start-up costs, the amount that West Cumbria Mining pays in UK tax will be minimal for a long time.
A company profits from the natural resources and infrastructure owned and funded by us. This costs us in damage to the environment, infrastructure, and loss of natural resources. A key part of why companies are permitted to do this, is because we receive a proportion of that profit back in tax - more than it costs us, though it's obviously difficult to price natural resources and the environment that'll be impacted. West Cumbria Mining Ltd's finances means that we end up paying more than we get back, with company executives walking away with bonuses and huge profits that happen outside the reach of the UK tax authorities.
Original research by Vivek Krotecha, 2021
Published: 01/09/2021
Canaries were encaged and forced to accompany underground coal miners for early detection of the lethal gasses that could be released by mining. We are the canaries in this decision, and we'll be on the streets in West Cumbria and London on the first day of the public inquiry into the West Cumbria coal mine proposal to warn the Minister for Housing, Communities, and Local Government that our lives and so many others are on the line as we reach the tipping point for irreversible runaway climate change.
We plan to have little canary cut-outs at the London rally that you can write a message or draw on, creating a warning flock outside the Ministry. West Cumbrian activists against the coal mine proposal are also sending a handmade canary for us to deliver to the Ministry. If you want to help us hand out flyers to members of the public passing, that's great! We'll have flyers available when you arrive.
Are you a journalist? See our press release.
There will be 2 rallies on the same day in different locations - a local rally in West Cumbria at site of the proposed coal mine and a rally in London outside the Ministry that'll make the ultimate decision after the public inquiry.
Date: Tuesday 07th September, 2021
Time: 09:00-10:00
Location: outside the site of the proposed coal mine, Woodhouse Colliery, Woodville Way, Whitehaven, CA28 9LF
Date: Tuesday 07th September, 2021
Time: 09:00-10:00
Location: outside the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, 2 Marsham St, London SW1P 4DF.
Please only attend either rally if you are feeling well, sanitise your hands regularly, and if possible, wear a mask whilst in the vicinity of other people, particularly if you're planning to hand out flyers to the public. Where possible, please avoid public transport, particularly where that is crowded. See our Covid19 risk assessment.
The proposed West Cumbria coal mine is going to a public inquiry called by Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick on 07 Sep 2021 and will last for at least 4 weeks. If the coal mine gets permission, it'll emit around 9 million tonnes of CO2 per year, and commit the UK to extracting 2.78 million tonnes of coal annually, until 2049 - or even 2070, if the mining company gets its way. The Climate Change Committee has officially stated this coal mine, expected to emit 9 million tonnes of CO2 per year for 40 years, is incompatible with the UK's climate change commitments. Promises by West Cumbria Mining Ltd of jobs and tax income are undermined by its investors, EMR Capital Resources, which has offices in the Cayman Islands tax haven - see our parody brochure for more information.
We want to ensure there is a visible show of public support for an end to coal mining in the UK, in solidarity with the local communities in Whitehaven, West Cumbria, who don't want this on their doorsteps, as well as communities living in the global south who'll bear the brunt of the climate change impacts this coal mine would contribute to. We want to show what the people think rather than what NGOs or campaign groups think. As such, we won't have any banners with our own logo on and we ask anyone attending not to bring branding of groups they may belong to.
Email Anne@coalaction.org.uk and Daniel@coalaction.org.uk
This campaign is primarily driven by committed Cumbrian activists for have been fighting this proposal for years. One of these Cumbrian groups is SLACC, who have pulled together a legal team to take on West Cumbria Mining Ltd's own legal team in the public inquiry. SLACC's website has a wealth of detailed information.
Friends of the Earth is working alongside the local campaign, and supporting it with capacity and training. Friends of the Earth are also taking an important role against the West Cumbria Mining Ltd in the upcoming public inquiry.
Between 2008 and 2012, communities fought against the threat of an opencast coal mine on the edge of their picturesque rural Northumberland villages. Northumberland Local Planning Authority sided with the local communities and rejected the application in 2011. But that rejection was appealed by the applicant, HM Projects Developments Ltd. The planning inspectorate sided with the applicant and overturned the communities’ and Local Planning Authority’s rejection, based on the misplaced faith that their additional ‘section 106’conditions would prevent negative impacts on the local environment and community. Those conditions and promises were, of course, broken with damage to the local environment by HM Project Developments Ltd. as it proceeded in 2012 with permission to extract 140,000 tonnes of coal just 50 metres from the closest residence over the next 8 years. As the opencast coal mine neared the end of its profitability in 2020, HM Project Developments Ltd. declared bankruptcy, thereby abandoning the opencast site on the edge of the Halton Lea Gate village and breaking its promise to pay into the promised community fund or for environmental remediation. The joint administrators appointed to tie up the loose ends of the company’s finances and responsibilities decided to leave remaining coal reserves, restore the farmland, and market it for sale to finance some of the company’s debts, with finance from ExWorks, a US credit company.
HM Project Developments Ltd. bankruptcy means that the £75,000 pledged to a community fund is unlikely to materialise. In retrospect, the Northumberland Local Planning Authority noted that it’s ‘section 106 conditions’ should have required HM Project Developments Ltd. to pay into the fund in a staged way throughout the project, rather than a lump sum at the end to avoid this scenario in the future. The bankrupt company’s joint administrators—Benjamin Wiles and Steven Muncaster of Kroll Advisory Ltd.—were appointed in 30 April 2020 and are apparently still in discussion with Northumberland Local Planning Authority on the community fund, but the outlook is not good as debts exceed £11 million, over 5x the predicted worth of the company’s remaining assets.
Coal Action Network visited the site in July 2020 after it was abandoned by the company. There we were confronted with a hole in the landscape of rolling hills, toxic-looking pools that had wildlife tracks leading to them, large mounds and jagged cliffs of excavated soil and coal, and machinery left around the site. Overall, a poorly fenced dangerous place. All this in a North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and just 50 metres from someone’s house.
The complexity of established flora and fauna sacrificed around the UK at sites of opencast coal mining is lost for the long-term, and possibly forever. So-called ‘restoration’ cannot recreate these ecosystems, and doesn’t even attempt to offset the impacts that burning the coal will have on climate change. When we revisited the site of the Halton Lea Gate opencast in June 2021, the toxic-looking pools were gone and the restoration effort was underway with funding from ExWorks, a US credit company, to the tune of £653,422 (less than the fees of the joint administrators so far). ExWorks relationship to the coal mine and HM Project Developments Ltd. isn’t clear. The works began in February 2021, and a chat with an employee on the site confirmed most of the soil had been put back, and the restoration works were expected to be completed by September 2021. Already the impact of simply putting back the soil on the local landscape—though insufficient—was profound and underpins why this baseline must be adhered to for the sake of nearby communities and fauna.
Before the coal mine in Halton Lea Gate was abandoned, Margam opencast coal mine was abandoned with just £5 million of the £56 million restoration bond in the pot, making for an even poorer quality restoration that remains a scar on the landscape. This is a story repeated across the UK, largely because:
Although coaling in the UK will hopefully continue to wind down, we must not repeat the same mistakes as excavation for lithium and other minerals ramps up.
National planning policy must give a clear and strong steer to screen all planning projects for their climate change consequences, not least coal mine applications. And the voices of impacted communities living around the sites of proposed developments must be centred in decision making by Local Planning Authorities, as it represents the main means by which local communities can democratically shape what happens around them. Only then can we prevent history repeating itself, with communities living locally and in the Global South bearing the brunt of climate-trashing projects.
What is the Lloyd’s of London?
Firstly, it’s nothing at all to do with Lloyd’s PLC, the bank – they’re not great either, but that’s another story.
Lloyd’s of London is a large insurance corporation with an HQ in London but trade insurance globally. In its own words, Lloyd’s of London “oversees and supports the Lloyd’s market, ensuring it operates efficiently and retains its reputation as the market of choice for specialist insurance and reinsurance risk.” You can watch Lloyd’s of London’s very corporate video explaining what they do.
What is “Lloyd’s marketplace”?
Insurance companies use Lloyd’s of London’s marketplace much like sellers use eBay’s website. Just as eBay supports bidding between buyers and sellers, so does Lloyd’s of London, employing over 200 brokers to match insurance customers with insurance companies. And just like eBay, Lloyd’s of London offers some form of guarantee for insurance bought via their marketplace, encouraging trades through to be made through it.
What is Lloyd’s of London's connection to Adani and West Cumbria coal mines, and fossil fuels
Lloyd’s of London marketplace is in the top 4 for insuring climate-wrecking fossil fuel projects around the world. Lloyd’s of London’s marketplace is particularly attractive to large fossil fuel projects as Lloyd’s has a reputation for getting high-risk projects insured that other insurance companies won’t touch. One way it does this is by splitting an insurance policy, and spreading the risk, between insurance companies using their marketplace. This amounts to an insurance for climate chaos as it’s only with insurance that companies can take the financial risks to dig new coal mines, build new tar sand pipelines, and explore new gas and oil fields.
Lloyd’s of London has refused to rule out allowing Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Australia or the West Cumbria coal mine in the UK to obtain insurance via their marketplace. If Adani’s Carmichael coal mine gets insurance and goes ahead, it would open up one of the world’s biggest coal deposits contributing to a climate catastrophe.
What is Lloyd’s of London doing to prevent their contribution to climate change?
Not much, and definitely not enough.
Lloyd’s of London have only committed to a policy of greenwash that is incompatible with our climate crisis, continuing to insure risky projects that no one else will touch. So far Lloyd’s of London has committed to asking insurers operating in their marketplace to stop insuring tar sands, thermal coal mines, and Arctic exploration, phasing this out by 2022. But ‘reinsurance’ for these worst offenders is allowed up until 2030.
This also leaves a huge range of climate-wrecking projects free to continue insuring their risk via Lloyd’s of London marketplace with no policy at all to discourage it. In practice, this means the planned West Cumbria mine could be insured via Lloyd’s of London marketplace as it intends to mine ‘coking coal’, not ‘thermal coal’, although both are eventually burned, producing similar emissions.
What more could Lloyd’s of London marketplace do to prevent their contribution to climate change?
Lloyd’s of London could most simply ban all fossil fuel insurance trading via their marketplace. Their own statement clearly indicates this would be possible; “Lloyd’s publishes minimum standards and monitors compliance with those minimum standards. Lloyd’s by-laws also set out a number of rules with which market participants are required to comply”.
Fossil fuel projects only amount to around 5% of Lloyd’s of London’s marketplace insurance trades, so the company would still have a future without selling out ours.
What would be the impact if Lloyd’s of London ruled out fossil fuel insurance?
Some of the fossil fuel projects would source insurance from other providers and marketplaces, but many using Lloyd’s of London marketplace have failed to secure insurance elsewhere—Lloyd’s of London is sometimes their last chance. Let’s not give it to them.
Insurance providers also look to one another in setting their policies, so if Lloyd’s of London drops fossil fuel insurance, it is likely other insurance traders and providers will too—with a bit of encouragement.
Insurance might not be the sexiest subject, but it is a very vulnerable link in the chain needed to start and continue these huge climate-wrecking projects. It’s time Lloyd’s of London take responsibility for the role its insurance marketplace has in our collective future.
What is an insurance policy?
A contract that a company or individual takes out with an insurer to protect them against specific risks in ways that are agreed and noted in the contract.
What is ‘claims made’ insurance?
Type of insurance policy that will cover insurance claims made whilst the insurance policy is in force – even if the event leading to that insurance claim happened before that insurance policy came into force.
What is ‘claims occurring’ insurance?
Type of insurance policy that will cover insurance claims for events that occurred whilst the insurance policy is in force – even if the claim for it happens after the insurance policy stopped being in force.
No related insurance:
They don't insure coal mines e.g. they just cover travel insurance.
What is ‘run-off’ insurance:
AKA: Not 'live' insurance. Type of insurance policy that comes into effect when a company stops trading. So, any claims made under it will relate to events that happened before the company stopped trading and the policy started. This is used by companies that had ‘claims made’ insurance, and want insurance in case anyone takes action against them after the company for the period of time after they stopped trading but are still liable.
Want to know more?
Take part in our UK-wide day of action against Lloyd’s of London (no relation to Lloyds bank) and their marketplace insurers of fossil fuel projects on 17 May - the day many will be returning to their offices after lockdown. We need to let the Lloyd’s of London's marketplace know we’re aware of the critical role they and their insurers play in enabling risky climate-wrecking projects from the first day they return to their offices.
How do I get involved?
There are actions outside the offices of fossil fuel insurers all around the UK - check out what's happening near you and sign up to get more info!
What kind of action?
Anything you want - get creative! An old bedsheet and a bit of paint is all you need for a banner. And we'll post you fliers to hand out to insurance staff and the public so you don't have to remember all the facts (email us a postal address).
We've made a full action brief that's got lots more details, ideas, background, resources, and legal stuff in.
Can't get out on the streets, or there isn't an action happening near you?
Please help us make a big impact on social media. Check out our social media pack for sample messages to share before the action and on the day.
Background
We’re demanding Lloyd’s of London insurers act now to rule out insuring the Adani (Carmichael) and West Cumbria coal mines, and fossil fuel projects more widely. Lloyd’s of London has so far only said they’re willing to rule out new insurance trades on Arctic exploration, thermal coal, and Canadian tar sands by the end of 2021…but allow the renewal of insurance of even these shameful practices until 2030. That’s an insult to the Paris Agreement and to all communities that will suffer the worst effects of climate change.
Lloyd’s of London marketplace is in the top 4 for insuring fossil fuel projects - and underwrite fossil fuel projects that other insurance companies won't touch, allowing mining companies to take risks exploring and unearthing new fossil fuels that we need to keep in the ground. Insurance is a vulnerable link in the chain needed to start and continue these huge climate-wrecking projects.
Despite being one of the main insurance marketplaces propping up the glob al fossil fuel industry, these insurance trades only account for around 5% of Lloyd’s of London insurance market. That means, with enough encouragement, insurance for all fossil fuel projects—such as the Adani or West Cumbria coal mine—could be banned. Join us in taking action to stop some of the riskiest, climate-wrecking fossil fuel mega-projects in their tracks.
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:
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.
Tonight, 18th 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 13th 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
On the 18th December 2020, Newcastle City Council decides whether to protect 250 acres of greenbelt land or allow a controversial opencast coal mine on the north-eastern edge of Newcastle in an online hearing. Banks Group applied in 2019 for a new opencast mine to extract 800,000 tonnes of thermal coal. 451 residents of Newcastle have since signed letters to their Councillors asking them to vote against this application. The Council’s own Planning Officer’s report concludes the proposed coal mine “would not be environmentally acceptable”, recommending councillors to reject the application as well.
The local Defend Dewley Hill campaign, has fought the proposed opencast mine since 2019 when Banks Group proposed to swallow 250 acres of Newcastle’s green belt land. Waterways, mature trees, hedgerows, wildlife, top soil, and public rights of way would be torn up if this destructive open cast mine were permitted.
Northumberland Wildlife Trust is concerned that an opencast mine would harm farmland birds such as skylark, lapwing, and yellowhammer, with the Chief Executive stating “We are totally against coal extraction as a trust”. There may also be risk to Dewley and Ouse burns (waterways) that supply Newcastle residents’ water from the open cast mine. The coal that would be extracted from this open cast mine is intended either to burned in power stations or to industry, in the UK or abroad. If used in the UK, the coal extracted could endanger the Government’s commitment to have net zero emissions by 2050.
Jude Campbell from Defend Dewley Hill said, “This application offers no benefit to the local community. Banks Group claims the opencast coal mine would create 50 new jobs at Dewley Hill but these are not new jobs for local people, simply continued employment for their existing workforce. As a former union rep the prospect of redundancy for Banks employees does not sit easily with me. However, Banks are promoting an unsustainable business model in 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. Banks Group have their own renewables division, they should be taking advantage of green technology grants whilst retaining and retraining employees.”
Whether the coal is used in the UK or abroad, and whether it is used in power stations or other industries, Professor Paul Ekins O.B.E., a leading resource enconomist at UCL Institute of Sustainable Resources, explains in a letter to Newcastle Council, “an increase in the supply of a commodity such as coal will reduce the price of the commodity, leading to increased demand, and therefore increased emissions”, and discourage industries investing in greener alternatives.
You can virtually attend the planning committee hearing, which starts at 0930 Friday 18.12.20 via www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiXPxStycTQ&feature=youtu.be
