Check out what else we're doing now to stop the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion
See our first letter and our second letter 'before action' from lawyers Richard Buxton Solicitors challenging the decisions made around the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion licence.
Under direction by grassroots campaign organisation, Coal Action Network, Barrister Estelle Dehon has sent a letter-before-action to the Welsh Government and the Coal Authority on the grounds that:
Our Barrister’s pre-action letter convincingly puts the power to stop the Aberpergwm colliery extension licence firmly in the hands of Welsh Government Ministers. Now it is up to those Ministers to take their rhetoric and put it into swift, decisive action to stop this climate calamity whilst there is still the opportunity to do so. Our pre-action letter also identifies why The Coal Authority, hosted by BEIS of the UK Government, isn’t bound by the narrow set of criteria it claims to be, and could, for instance, site climate change as a reason to withdraw this licence and reject future coal mining licence applications, becoming an ally to our climate commitments rather than an undermining force.
Coal Action Network tried to avoid legal action, with supporters sending over 4000 emails to Lee Waters of the Welsh Government and Michael Gove of the UK Government, urging them to come to work together and arrive at a common understanding as to which could intervene on the pending licence to extend the Aberpergwm colliery—and then take that action to stop the licence before it’s granted. However, along with our open letter, Ministers ignored thousands of concerned members of the public. As Ministers refuse to respond to the public’s and civil society’s concerns, we must resort to this legal action.
We hope that the Welsh Government and The Coal Authority act swiftly to stop this coal mine, in accordance with the legal grounds identified within the pre-action letter. This may avoid the need for a judicial review. But we cannot allow it to go unchallenged, that every institution and individual involved has shrugged off the responsibility for committing us to the extraction of 70 million tonnes of coal, selling 40 million tonnes of coal, and the release of 1.17 million tonnes of methane and c.100 million tonnes of CO2. This is a terrible climate injustice, it must be stopped, and those responsible must be held to account. The time to draw a line in the sand is now. No new coal mining for any purpose. And the IEA agrees with us (p103).
If we must resort to a judicial review to prevent this coal mine, we intend to crowd-fund it and we hope you’ll share it widely. As well as stopping this coal mine extension, a successful legal challenge will dissuade the other coal companies which have conditional licences from the Coal Authority to attempt new coal mines. We would significantly raise the bar against new coal mines.
Check out what we're doing now to stop the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion.
...Whilst the Welsh and UK Governments continued to argue over which could stop it, The Coal Authority approved the full licence for an underground coal mine extension to Energybuild Ltd. The company can now mine a further 40 MILLION TONNES of coal until 2039, emitting an est. 100 MILLION TONNES of CO2 and up to 1.17 MILLION TONNES of methane emissions.
This is exactly what we warned would happen, but it’s not over yet.
We, at Coal Action Network, are taking action against this climate trashing project and want you to join in. This is a rapidly evolving issue, and we will post specific actions you can get involved with here on our website, as well as our social media platforms. Watch this space.
We will:
Published: 03/02/2022 updated 08/02/2022
The Coal Authority has issued the Aberpergwm coal mine with a licence to mine an extra 42 million tonnes of coal, ignoring the est.100 million tonnes of CO2 this will generate and jeopardise the UK's and Wales' ability to meet their climate commitments. Check out what we're doing now to stop the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion.
Combined, both of you have received nearly 4000 emails from people who are dismayed by the news that the deep coal mine operated by EnergyBuild Ltd in Aberpergwm may imminently have the licence to extend it deconditionalised by The Coal Authority regulator. The people we have spoken with are shocked that the UK is embarking on a new commitment to mine up to 40 million tonnes of coal until 2039, emitting around 100 million tonnes of CO2—as well as methane—into our atmosphere. Common questions we heard included “how can this happen just after COP26?”, “shouldn’t this decision be made by Wales?”, and “why don’t these Ministers seem to know who can stop this?”.
Will you answer their questions and respond to their concerns?
Our recommendations:
In the short term, it is critical that Ministers from both the Welsh and UK Governments work together to overcome the political impasse reported by the BBC and The Guardian, and block this coal mine. There are several routes to achieve this. Inaction on this coal mine extension would have unacceptable consequences for the UK’s climate change emissions, and international leadership on phasing down coal.
For the longer term, the UK Government must end the recurring embarrassment of coal mines progressing through a planning system that does not support the its climate commitments. Applications for new coal mines in West Cumbria and near Druridge Bay, as well as a coal mine extension at Nant Helen in Wales, all required Ministers to step in the last-minute. This pattern shows that the planning process needs updating.
We recommend that Minister Michael Gove therefore issues a policy statement that rules out planning permission for all new and extended coal mining across the UK. This be irrespective of the type of coal or proposed end use. The policy statement would send a clear signal domestically and internationally that the UK is serious about leading the global phase-down of coal, and accelerating the decarbonisation of energy and steel production, the latter of which currently drives 11% of climate change emissions.
An invitation to consign coal to history
We invite Minsters from the Welsh and UK Governments to reach out to Coal Action Network and consign new coal mining and extensions to history. Coal Action Network has operated as a grassroots group since 2008 to support local communities across England, Scotland, and Wales to oppose nearby coal mining and associated impacts. As one local community member, after successfully opposing a nearby opencast coal proposal in December 2020, said:
“Coal is our heritage, but it cannot be a part of our future”
Yours sincerely,
Supporters, and the team at Coal Action Network
The Coal Authority has issued the Aberpergwm coal mine with a licence to mine an extra 42 million tonnes of coal, ignoring the est.100 million tonnes of CO2 this will generate and jeopardise the UK's and Wales' ability to meet their climate commitments. Check out what we're doing now to stop the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion.
Currently, the Welsh Government and the UK’s Government Ministry of BEIS are arguing over which has the legal power to cancel the impending licence for a coal mine extension in Aberpergwm, south Wales. EnergyBuild Ltd, the coal operator, is on the brink of getting a licence to extend an existing deep coal mine to extract a further 40 million tonnes of coal, emitting around 100 million tonnes of CO2 and methane, until 2039. The licence could be obtained any day, and work begin shortly thereafter (we’ve illustrated the main legal steps a coal mine takes between application and diggers on the land). This is a very live issue.
Demand Ministers block this coal mine extension now.
The governments of Wales and the UK both believe that the other has the power to stop the coal mine extension from going ahead. In the meantime, and in the shadow of the recent COP26 in Glasgow, a licence to extract a further 40 million tonnes of coal could slip through any day. The estimated 100 million tonnes of CO2 and methane this would emit over the next 18 years, would discredit the much-boasted 2050 Net-Zero commitment, Boris Johnson’s recent statement in the press against new coal, and the Welsh Ministerial statement against coal in March 2021. The signal this may send to other world leaders, that they can make commitments then ignore them, is hard to quantify but may be even more significant. Ministers Lee Waters of the Welsh Government, and Michael Gove of the UK Government, need to come together to stop this coal mine and make good on their respective governments' climate commitments.
The distance between the coal mine and the nearest residence in Aberpergwm is just 330 metres. Although this is a deep coal mine rather than opencast, this proximity can still be associated with impacts from coal dust from coal stockpiles stored above ground, noise, HGV movements, and light pollution. Future impacts of the underground working are also uncertain with increasingly extreme weather events associated with climate change.
For people living in many parts of the Global South, on flood planes, or near sea-level, climate change is not an abstract threat for future generations – it's impacts are life and death, and are experienced now and locally to them. The line between who we think of as ‘local communities’ is beginning to blur as the impacts are increasingly experienced beyond the site of operations. The economic and health impacts of the coal mine extension going ahead or closing will be immediate, direct, and tangible on the residents in Aberpergwm. The impacts of the CO2 and methane from this coal mine will be delayed, indirect, and, although modelling tools attempt to quantify it, fairly intangible on communities threatened now by climate change. However, the consequences are profound for both groups, and must be considered.
Cutting through the greenwash, a significant portion of the coal will be burned at steelworks releasing huge amounts of CO2 and other pollutants, jeopardising the rapid decarbonisation required of the global steel industry and other industries which are reliant on coal.
A visit to Companies House online will reveal a complicated operating structure of many small companies with similar names and shared registered addresses associated with Energybuild Ltd, the coal operator in Aberpergwm. The company itself has negligible assets, so the possibility of recovering funds if the company suddenly folded with liabilities is limited. The situation with its holding company, Energybuild Resources Ltd is also concerning, with net liabilities of £2.7 million and assets valued at £950 thousand as of the end of 2019 – meaning that if the company were to fold, around 65% of those liabilities may not be fulfilled, including restoration works.
Wales played a major role in mining the coal that powered the UK through an industrial revolution. Coal is a central part of a proud heritage in many communities throughout Wales, and for a few remaining areas, coal mining is still the major industry.
The closure of many coal mines under the Thatcher Government put thousands out of work, generating bitterness and deprivation that continues to this day. Much of this hardship could have been avoided if coal mining had been phased out and replaced by reinvesting some of the wealth that mining generated back into the communities that toiled to extract it.
Local shops and pubs, in particular, in recent press coverage have come out in support of a licence for the coal mine extension, highlighting their reliance on the custom of coal miners that work there. But without the support for creating alternative jobs that’s been absent so far, these businesses will be in the same position when the coal mine does eventually close.
Will the UK Government learn from its past mistakes in coal, and make good on its promise to ‘level up’ the UK with an approach that includes investment in infrastructure, retraining in desirable and viable jobs, and financial support for small and medium sized enterprises, particularly cooperative and social-interest companies that build and reinvest in their communities? Only when the UK and Welsh governments step up will communities in Aberpergwm have a genuine choice on whether to tolerate a coal mine nearby for another 18 years.
The Aberpergwm extension may represent the final gasps of an industry we owe much to but must move beyond. As one tenacious community member fighting a coal mine near Newcastle put it, "coal is our collective heritage, but it cannot be our future".
Following almost 4000 emails, we've followed up with an open letter to Ministers Lee Waters and Michael Gove.
This is an illustrated step-by-step guide as to how a company gets the legal stuff they need in place before they can start a new coal mine, or extend an existing one. The information herein is a very simplified outline of the main steps to, a much deeper reading is recommended as understanding this process will highlight what the opportunities are for avoiding any future coal mining applications slipping through or reaching the stage of a resource-demanding public inquiry, like the West Cumbria coal mine application recently has.
Join our creative actions on 29th October 2021 in either:
London
Time: From 0900 - 1100
Address: Lloyd's of London HQ, 1 Lime St, London, United Kingdom EC3M 7HA
Nearest tube station: Bank
Newcastle
Time: From 1500 - 1700
Address: Rotterdam House,116 Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom NE1 3DY
Join us in either London or Newcastle for a memorial to bring to life the memories of every person harmed by the injustices of the climate crisis, as well as celebrate their fierce resistance to it.
In London this will be outside Lloyds of London, a company (not related to Lloyds bank) that profits from providing insurance to climate wrecking projects, without which they wouldn’t be able to go ahead. You’ll hear from Pacific Island Warriors, Silver Town Tunnel local campaigners, and others that are suffering climate change impacts and fighting climate wrecking projects.
In Newcastle, we will be outside the offices of Chubb, one of Lloyd of London's 'syndicates', who are also involved in the insurance of fossil fuel projects, such as the Adani coal mine. We will hear from campaigners opposing the opening of the West Cumbria coal mine, as well as from the Campaign to Protect Pont Valley, who will talk about resistance, loss, and what it means to live with a coal mine on their doorstep
You can sign up for the action now and receive updates, or just turn up on the day and follow us on Twitter or Facebook to stay up-to-date instead.
Anyone is welcome to bring their own memorial-themed materials to this action, and here’s a video on how to do that:
The climate crisis is harming the poorest and least responsible of us first and worst. Five million people will die this year due to fossil fuels globally, only 40,000 of those in the UK. The blame for this falls squarely at the feet of governments, corporations and banks that continue to profit from death. As people globally face extreme and destructive weather, we will come together to demand care & repair with them.
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market, one of the world's largest insurers of fossil fuel projects. We want to shed light onto Lloyd’s of London's appalling environmental record, and the colonialist practices from which Lloyd’s grew. From the insurance of slave ships, to the insurance of climate-destroying projects that dispossess indigenous peoples of their land, Lloyd’s have blood on their hands.
Opencast coal extraction causes extensive damage to local environments by opening up the land like a quarry, destroying habitats and polluting the air and water. Imported coal, from Russia, Venezuela, Colombia, the USA and Australia, also carries significant environmental and human rights impacts.
As of July 2021 it was confirmed there are no more applications or appeals for opencast coal extraction in England. There are two opencast coal mines operational in South Wales.
There are two potential sites for new underground coking coal mines. West Cumbria Mining Ltd and NAE want to extract millions of tonnes of coking coal a year from sites in Cumbria and the Scottish borders. The coal would be exported to European steelworks.
Both sites would produce coking coal which is processed into coke and used at steel works which use high carbon blast furnaces. Port Talbot and Scunthorpe steelworks use these methods and are the second and third biggest single source emitters of carbon in the UK.
It is possible to make steel without coal using electric arc furnaces and recycling as well as through direct reduction iron production. New methods to produce steel with hydrogen are being trialled.
Coal-use in electricity declined to its lowest ever level in 2021, thanks to grassroots and NGO campaigning for a total phase-out of coal by 2025 which has now been brought forward to 2024.
There are now only three power stations left open in the UK, running occasionally.
Coal is the fuel that contributes most to climate change. Climate change impacts communities in the Global South, who least caused the problem, first and hardest.
The UK is also the financial centre of global coal mining, as many of the world's major mining companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange, as well as coal insurers and financiers.
The UK heads up the international 'Powering Past Coal Alliance' and hosts COP26 in 2021, but has yet to end coal extraction at home or fully end financial support for international coal mining.
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.
