High Court Blocks U.K.'s First New Coal Mine in 30 Years

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The U.K.'s High Court has quashed a decision to allow the building of the country's first deep coal mine in more than 30 years.

Judge Justice Holgate said the original assumption that the mine would not increase greenhouse gas emissions was "legally flawed" and that the then acting secretary of state for leveling up, Michael Gove, acted unlawfully in accepting a claim by developer West Cumbria Mining (WCM) that the mine would be "net zero." In late 2022, the then Conservative-led government had granted permission for the highly controversial project near Whitehaven in Cumbria, northeast England, against the advice of its own climate advisory panel and environmental bodies. Industrial Info is tracking a number of projects associated with the proposed mine, which planned to use run-out and pocket extraction mining methods to produce 3.2 million tonnes per year of coking coal from a reserve of approximately 750 million tonnes. WCM declined to comment on the decision. The action was taken by Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).

"The assumption that the proposed mine would not produce a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, or would be a net zero mine, is legally flawed," ruled Judge Holgate.

It comes just months after the U.K. Supreme Court overruled a decision in 2019 by a local council to permit an expansion plan for the Horse Hill oil well in Surrey. Following a campaign and legal challenge by Sarah Finch and the Weald Action Group, a majority on the Supreme Court bench agreed that the council should have considered the full climate impact of burning oil from new wells. That decision and the grounds for refusal were cited in the current case and played a key role in the decision against WCM and its proposed coal mine. It also casts a shadow over future fossil-fuel projects in the U.K.

WCM had argued that it would 'offset' the emissions from its mine through purchasing carbon credits from abroad but the court ruled that U.K. government policy does not allow reliance on international offsets to meet carbon budgets under the Climate Change Agreements. The court also found that the original ruling that the mine would have a negative international impact was incorrect in law. It was based on the flawed premise that the mine would be net zero.

Friends of the Earth senior lawyer Niall Toru, said: "It is the first fossil fuel case to be decided after the landmark Supreme Court judgment on oil drilling at Horse Hill. That the ruling today has gone against the mining company could have ramifications internationally, as there are cases abroad where challenges are being made against fossil fuel projects on a very similar basis. "This mine should never have been given permission in the first place. The case against it is overwhelming: it would have huge climate impacts, its coal isn't needed and it harms the U.K.'s international reputation on climate."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).