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Victory! We stopped Ffos-y-fran opencast from extending coal operations!

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

Stop coal's climate toll - Radical history inspired protest

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.

Rally to rule out expanding Ffos-y-fran opencast

Key information

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!

Background

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.

Published: 17/04/2023

The IPCC AR6 Report

What do you do when "our world needs climate action on all fronts - everything, everywhere, all at once"…?

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.”

FIVE ACTIONS you can take TODAY based on the report's findings

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.

"No New Coal"

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.

"Partial pledges won't cut it"

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/.

"End all international public and private funding of coal"

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.

"Cease all licensing or funding for new oil & gas"

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/.

"It will take a quantum leap in climate action"

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.

 

EACOP: Lloyd’s Cincinnati rule out pipeline while Talbot stays silent in response to protests

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

Notes to Editors

About EACOP

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)

Coal on trial in Wales: the right to choose a coal-free future

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:

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

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

The arguments centred on:

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

What’s at stake

 

Case against Welsh Government

We win:

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

We lose:

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

Case against Coal Authority

We win:

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

We lose:

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

Our experience of the hearing...

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.

Published: 16/03/2023

We are hiring! Operations Administrator (Finance)

Role Details

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

Job Purpose

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.

How to Apply

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.

  • Please provide a CV and up to two pages of text addressing how you meet the points in the person specification, giving examples of relevant experience (paid or voluntary).

 

  • Please provide contact details (email and phone number) of two referees who can comment on your suitability for the role (in a paid or voluntary capacity, not a family member or partner/spouse).

 

 

The application closing date is Tuesday 4th April (midnight)

We are hiring! Campaigner Fossil Fuel Insurance (UK)

Role Details

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

Job Purpose

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.

How to Apply

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 

  • Please provide a CV and up to two pages of text addressing how you meet the points in the person specification, giving examples of relevant experience (paid or voluntary).
  • Please provide contact details (email and phone number) of two referees who can comment on your suitability for the role (in a paid or voluntary capacity, not a family member or partner/spouse).
  • Please complete and return an Equality and diversity monitoring form.  This will be processed anonymously

Will Wales decide Aberpergwm coal mine fate?

CALL TO ACTION

Location: Cardiff Civil and Family Justice Centre, 2 Park Street, Cardiff, CF10 1ET

Day: Wed 15th March 2023

Time: starts 0930 – ends 10:00am. (The hearing starts at 10.30am)

What:

Demonstration in support of a 2-day court hearing to rule that the Welsh Government can apply its strong policy against coal mining to stop the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion in Glyn Neath. Show up to show the Welsh Government that you care about fossil fuels and the climate change it drives.

What to bring:

Placards and banners about climate change and fossil fuels, particularly coal. Please don’t bring things that have groups’ logos on – we want this demonstration to be about the issue, not about who’s campaigning on it.

Questions?

Email: info@coalaction.org.uk

Find out more about the campaign, including key stats on Aberpergwm coal mine.

Background

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

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

Published: 28.02.23

EACOP Week of Action targets Lloyd’s Insurers Talbot & Cincinnati

Yesterday, 23rd February activists from the StopEACOP Coalition held an ‘oil spill’ demonstration outside the offices of two insurance companies, Talbot & Cincinnati Global Underwriting to demand the companies rule out the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). 

Activists staged a moveable ‘oil spill,’ with hazard signs that highlighted the risks of the controversial project, outside the offices of Talbot, before taking the scene with them to Cincinnati Global Underwriting to target staff at both Lloyd’s of London insurers. Activists brought banners naming the individual insurers, demanding they distance themselves from fossil fuel projects like EACOP, and talked to staff to urge them to raise the matter internally. 

Meanwhile, phone calls poured into the offices of both companies with supporters of the demonstration urging the company to take a position against EACOP on environmental and human rights grounds. 

On the reason for targeting the firms Talbot and Cincinnati, Elara Shurety of Coal Action Network explained:

"While Cincinnati and AIG (parent company of Talbot) have ruled out other climate-wrecking projects such as Adani and the Trans Mountain Pipeline, they have stayed silent when asked about EACOP, and their oil and gas policies are relaxed enough to permit them to insure this climate disaster. We know that EACOP is seeking insurance at Lloyd’s where these companies manage syndicates."

Despite the growing controversy around the project, including human rights violations, the French oil company Total Energies and the Chinese state company CNOOC are moving ahead with the oilfields and pipeline projects. 

Despite the growing controversy around the project, including human rights violations, 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 urge Talbot and Cincinnati to commit publicly to ruling out the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Our land, water, and natural resources are integral to our livelihoods and culture, and this pipeline poses a significant threat to our well-being and future with unacceptable risks and impacts. We implore the insurance companies to stand with us by prioritising the health and safety of our communities, as well as the preservation of our environment. Let us work together towards sustainable development that benefits everyone, instead of supporting a project that will only bring harm to our beloved home."

Maxwell Atuhura, of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) in Buliisa, Uganda, said: "Financial institutions and insurers that choose to lend their financial muscle to harmful fossil fuel projects, must recognise their role in fuelling the climate crisis that is devastating communities. It's time these institutions make a conscious effort to transition towards more sustainable and ethical investments. Those which have ruled out EACOP have chosen to prioritise the lives of communities and the future of our planet and generations to come."

The protest comes on day four of a coordinated 'global week or action on EACOP' by the StopEACOP coalition of civil society groups including Coal Action Network, Money Rebellion, Let’s Stop EACOP UK, BankTrack and Tipping Point UK. Throughout the week Lloyd’s insurers have been targeted through street demonstrations, online activities and phone calls. Since Monday an unprecedented 4 million emails have been sent to Lloyd's of London insurers by thousands of global supporters of the campaign, in a ‘communications blockade’ urging them to join the 22 other insurers that have already ruled the project out. 

AIG, parent company of Talbot, will also be targeted by the StopEACOP global week of action in New York in a demonstration on Friday 24th February in NY on Friday.