New UK coal mine blocked by High Court

West Cumbria Mining

PLANS to build the UK’s first coal mine in more than 30 years have been quashed by the High Court.

The legal challenge against the government’s 2022 approval for a new mine in Cumbria was brought by Friends of the Earth and local campaign group South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).

In his ruling, Justice Holgate said the assumption that the proposed mine would not lead to a net increase in emissions was “legally flawed”.

The developers, West Cumbria Mining, had argued that the coking coal produced in Cumbria would not lead to a net increase in emissions from combustion because it would substitute coal that would otherwise be imported from the US.

Consultants for West Cumbria Mining estimated 60m t of coking coal would be extracted from the mine during its lifetime, and that operations at the mine would produce around 8.2m t of emissions. It estimated that mitigation measures could reduce these to 1.8m t.

Experts giving evidence on behalf of SLACC estimated that if the combustion of the coal was also taken into account the mine would produce an additional 220m t of emissions.

Justice Holgate said that “at the heart of these proceedings lies the recent decision of the Supreme Court” which in June overturned planning permission for a new onshore oil well because the climate impact of the refined products produced from its oil had not been taken into account.   

Reacting to the judgement, Friends of the Earth said: “This is a fantastic victory for the campaign, but it’s not over yet. Unless the mining company withdraws its planning application, the government will need to reconsider whether to allow the mine, this time taking into account its full climate impacts.”

West Cumbria Mining has not yet responded to a request for comment.

It seems unlikely that coking coal will be needed for UK steelmaking after Port Talbot confirmed plans earlier this week to shut down its remaining blast furnace with the loss of 2,500 jobs and invest in electrified steel production instead. There are also rumours that British Steel is set to imminently announce the closure of the UK’s sole remaining blast furnace in Scunthorpe.  

The government announced last month that it would not defend the court case against the Whitehaven coal project approved by the previous government. It has also said it will not contest legal challenges against Equinor’s Rosebank and Shell’s Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea.