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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

Ditch the dirty dollars – invest in our future!

People hailing from Cumbria to London, and everywhere in between, descended on the Mines and Money Conference in London across two days (28th-29th Nov 2023). We demanded that investors stop pouring cash into the mining sector, and  instead invest in our collective future. Together with Fossil Free London and other groups, we greeted investors with…

5 Insurers Rule Out The West Cumbria Mine

The insurers that have ruled out underwriting the mine are AEGIS Managing Agency, Argenta Syndicate Management, Hannover Re and Talanx. These are the first financial institutions to rule out any involvement with the project, and the win represents a new phase in the campaign to stop the project from going ahead.

Coalition backing a coal mining ban in Wales

Over 30 Welsh NGOs and businesses have signed a letter to Welsh Minister Julie James and Deputy Minister Lee Waters, demanding they draw a line in the sand and announce ban on any further coal mines on Welsh soil. The letter was delivered on 11th October 2023.

Port Talbot steel transition

On 15th September 2023, The Guardian reported that Tata Steel accepted Government funding to avoid closing its steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales, by decarbonising it instead – but at a loss of up to 3,000 jobs. The UK Government is providing £500 million, and Tata Steel is expected to provide another £725 million…

UK Coal Round Up

Update on coal extraction and use in the UK. The situation with coal production and use in the UK is changing. There is a legal challenges to the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and Aberpergwm extension; and an illegal mine operating in Merthyr Tydfil. Updated stats from the government’s July Digest of UK Energy Statistics.

REFUSED: Glan Lash opencast coal mine

Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the application, to loud applause. We celebrate that 6.5 hectares of trees, hedgerows, and fields were spared destruction in the refusal of this application…

Glan Lash extension to be decided

The Planning Officer’s Report lends much weight to Bryn Bach Coal Ltd’s (BBCL) claim that most of the coal will be sent to non-burn end-use. BBCL has increased the proportion of coal it claims will go to non-burn end-use in successive versions of its application, without justification for these shifting proportions. The reality is that market conditions…

Energy Bill – cut out coal!

With a margin of 3 votes (197 for vs 194 against) in the House of Lords on 17th April 2023, Lord Teverson amended the Energy Bill to include a new clause on the ‘prohibition of new coal mines’…

Aberpergwm Judicial Review appeal

On 15th and 16th March, Coal Action Network took the Welsh Government and Coal Authority (UK regulator of coal mining) to the Cardiff court in a judicial review over their respective handling of the Aberpergwm application to extend workings by up to 42 million tonnes of coal and until 2039…

Ffos-y-fran mining company acting “unilaterally and unlawfully”

Respected senior Barrister, James Maurici KC, and Barrister Toby Fisher have today released a blistering open letter of legal advice that reveals for the first time that the company operating the UK’s largest opencast coal mine, Ffos-y-fran, in South Wales is doing so “unilaterally and unlawfully” without the approval of “any democratically elected bodies or persons”…

Actions against proposed Whitehaven coal mine since Govt approval

Groups have taken action since the government approved a new coal mine proposed for Whitehaven, Cumbria—including: Chris Packham joined Friends of the Earth, Extinction Rebellion and others…

Aberpergwm Judicial Review decision

it was announced the Judicial Review decision has upheld the mine continuing to operate until 2039 to the tune of over 100 million tonnes of CO2. This judgement comes fewer than two months after the IPCC released a report sounding the ‘final warning’ of irreversible and catastrophic climate change…

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

After two decades of campaigning, last night (26/04/23) Merthyr Tydfil residents, Coal Action Network, and other environmental campaigners finally stopped Ffos-y-fran opencast coal with the Council’s refusal of permission to extend!

New research: coal mine restoration in Wales

This report combines field and desk-based research to shine a light on the continuing failure of Local Planning Authorities to honour promises made to local communities about how and when opencast coal mines would be restored. The research finds that mining…

Webinar on restoration in South Wales

This webinar marks the launch of a report, ‘Coal Mine Restoration in South Wales’, revealing the injustices surrounding of 7 opencast coal mines in South Wales…

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