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COAL & THE UK

In the midst of the climate crisis, the UK still mines and imports coal. The coal is primarily used for steel and cement production. Mining companies are currently applying for more underground coal mine applications and expansions, which we are fighting - such as the proposed West Cumbria coal mine. There is currently one large operating coal mine in the UK - Aberpergwm, a deep coal mine in South Wales.  Read our coal facts and figures, or our myth busters. Below you can find site specific information about active, recently closed, and proposed coal mining sites in the UK.

South Wales

South Wales

South Wales

South Wales

England

ACTIONS & NEWS

We expose company’s misleading claims

Bryn Bach Coal Ltd attempts to present the anthracite coal it wishes to extract from an expansion of Glan Lash as a unique and scarce commodity that is needed for water filtration, bricks, and graphite, and would therefore be too valuable to burn. Yet, visiting Energybuild Ltd’s…

Major wins of 2024

Over the past year, we’ve secured some massive victories. By taking part in our digital actions, supporters sent over 26,000 messages to the UK Government, MPs, Welsh Senedd members, Councillors, and companies to help consign coal to the history books in the UK…

Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill

The Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill (‘the Bill’) was prompted by a series of coal tip landslides that occurred in Wales following storms’ Ciara and Dennis in 2020, including a major landslide of a disused coal tip in Tylorstown…

Under pressure: Europe’s largest mining investment conference

As B Labs doesn’t seem bothered was the public says, we asked supporters to contact other B Corps – who are effectively B Labs customers. Almost 20,000 emails were sent to over 60 B Corp status companies, asking them to take a stand with us…

Coal tip remediation – not coal tip mining

The Welsh Government’s long-awaited Bill is expected to be presented to the Senedd before the end of 2024. The very recent Cwmtillery tip slip will make this Bill a more politically charged issue. It will also raise scrutiny over whether measures…

UK Government makes it official: coal mining no more

The UK Government has laid a Written Ministerial Statement confirming that it will introduce legislation to “restrict the future licensing of new coal mines”, by amending the Coal Industry Act 1994, “when Parliamentary time allows”. The UK Government’s press release is entitled “New coal mining licences will be banned”. Here at Coal Action Network, we thinks it’s great that the UK Government is following…

The human cost of the stolen £millions

Former opencast coal mining sites like East Pit, Margam Parc Slip, Nant Helen, and Selar are all recent examples of ‘zombie restorations’ carried out on budgets often amounting to 10% of what the promised restoration would have cost – sometimes even less. Ffos-y-fran looks set to join that list. Restorations are so-called because they are meant to…

We have to do better by steelworkers…

Former steelworker, Pat Carr, spoke to Anne Harris from Coal Action Network about the financial support offered to workers when the Consett steelworks closed in 1980, and they discussed what can be done better, in workplaces like Scunthorpe steelworks. (Article published in Canary magazine)

Glan Lash extension: the second attempt

Bryn Bach Coal Ltd is the coal mining company that operates the Glan Lash opencast coal mine, which has been dormant since planning permission expired in 2019. In 2018, it applied for an extension which was unanimously rejected by planning councillors in 2023. Undeterred, Bryn Bach Coal Ltd is trying again! This time with a slightly smaller extension of some 85,000 tonnes rather than 95,000 tonnes…

Historic moment ends coal for power generation

The UK is reaching a major milestone in its transition to clean energy, one that Coal Action Network has campaigned for since its inception in 2008 — the complete phase-out of coal power generation. From October 2024, Ratcliffe power station — the last remaining coal-fired power station in the country…

Coal, British Industry, and Colonialism

Coal powered Britain’s industrial and economic expansion during its Industrial Revolution. The abundance of coal discovered in Britain was a key factor that enabled the country’s early industrialisation, developing technologies and industries unfeasible elsewhere due to the lack of cheap energy sources…

Take action – let planners say no to new coal mining

Take action – let planners say no to new coal mining TAKE ACTION The public consultation window for the National Policy and Planning Framework represents the first opportunity since the new UK Government was formed to stop any new coal mine application winning planning permission…

We need remediation without the climate vandalism

We’ve teamed up with our friends at the Good Law Project to obtain expert legal advice, revealing that ERI Ltd’s disastrous proposal to mine two of the Bedwas coal tips is unlikely to get the necessary permissions. If it does, we’re confident we can challenge it…

Senedd Committee reports ‘Missed Opportunities’ in Restoring Nature at Opencast Coal Mines in Wales

The Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee (CCEIC) has released a critical report on the management of opencast coal mining in Wales, particularly focusing on Ffos-y-Fran, one of the last opencast…

Horse Hill Supreme Court victory

Fantastic news today, 20th June 2024. The UK Supreme Court has set a historical precedent, in overturning a previous ruling, considering the legality of approving a new oil site in Surrey. The ground breaking decision stating that ‘downstream’ emissions (those released when a product is used) must be factored into decisions on…

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