A company in Great Britain wanted to build the first tunnel in decades, arguing that a coal mine would not cause additional greenhouse gases. Climate activists were up in arms – and won in court.
The High Court in London has stopped the planned construction of a controversial coal mine in northern England, upholding a lawsuit brought by environmental groups. It would have been the first new coal mine in Great Britain in three decades.
The previous Conservative British government had given the green light to the project in December 2022. However, the new Labour cabinet has already announced that it will not support it. Government officials declared shortly after taking office in July that there was a “legal error” in the approval for the mine in Whitehaven.
“A great victory”
The court has now also adopted this view. Niall Toru, lead lawyer for the climate organisation Friends of the Earth, called the ruling “fantastic news and a great victory”: “This mine should not have been approved in the first place; it would have a huge impact on the climate.”
Lawyers for the mining company West Cumbria Mining (WCM) had argued that the mine would have a “largely neutral effect on the global release of greenhouse gases”. The coal to be mined is “greener” than that imported from abroad – and necessary for steel production. The company's assumption was legally incorrect, it was stated in the reasoning behind the ruling.
Groundbreaking ruling by the Supreme Court
WCM said that the effects of the ruling were now being examined and that nothing more could be said at this time. The judge's ruling can still be appealed. Supporters also argued that the project in the Cumbria region would create hundreds of jobs in a structurally weak area.
The ruling is the first since the British Supreme Court ruled in June that long-term climate impacts must be taken into account when approving fossil fuel extraction projects. This includes the subsequent burning of the fossil fuels extracted.
