In a big win for the climate, the High Court has ruled that planning permission for the Whitehaven coal mine in Cumbria was granted unlawfully.
The legal challenges were brought by Friends of the Earth and local campaigners South Lakes Action on Climate Change. Alongside other issues, the court overturned the decision because then secretary of state Michael Gove failed to lawfully consider the emissions caused by burning the coal – 99% of the emissions from the mine – as these weren’t in the assessment of climate impacts. This follows the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment on Horse Hill. Read our detailed legal briefing for more information on the case.
And what's more, the company behind the mine won't be appealing the decision. The government must ensure that West Cumbria, and areas like it, are at the forefront of the transition to a green economy to get the jobs and investment that is urgently required. That's why we're calling on Keir Starmer to create a new Big Climate Plan
Why we opposed the proposed Whitehaven coal mine
As an environmental justice organisation, you’d expect us to oppose a new coal mine that'll emit millions of tonnes of carbon and fuel climate change. But it’s not just us who think this mine is a bad idea.
Leaders in industry, economics and politics agree that this coal won't lower energy bills because it won't be used to produce energy, it’s not wanted by the UK steel industry, and it won't reduce coal imports, with most if not all of the coal due to be exported. The mine will cause damage to our environment, harm our international reputation, and isn’t the best way to help areas like Whitehaven that need new, sustainable jobs in industries with a future.
Below, we summarise expert opinions from when the previous government granted planning permission. We hope the new government takes note.
Industry leaders say these are dead-end jobs
This is a completely unnecessary step for the British steel industry, which is not waiting for more coal as there is enough on the free market available. The British steel industry needs green investment in electric arc furnaces and hydrogen to protect jobs and make the UK competitive.
Ron Deelen, former Chief Executive of British Steel.
Adair Turner is former Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) – the organisation that represents UK industry – and he’s former chair of the Financial Services Authority as well as a former chair of the Climate Change Committee.
Climate vandalism and economic incompetence on a scale difficult to believe. Global coking coal demand will plummet from now to 2050 as iron-making moves to new tech. Future governments will have to bail out bankrupt asset and deal with unemployed workers stuck in dead end jobs.
Adair Turner, former CBI Director-General.
It is not clear cut to suggest that having a coal mine producing coking coal for steelmaking on our doorstep will reduce steelmakers’ demand for imported coal. On the contrary, when our committee heard from steelmakers earlier this year, they argued that they have survived long enough without UK domestic coking coal and that any purchase of coking coal would be a commercial decision.
Philip Dunne MP, Chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee.
So the coal from this mine won’t help the UK steel industry – over 80% of the coal will be exported. And as all European steel makers move away from using coal, how long will the jobs last?
Business wants climate leadership and jobs in net zero
Alok Sharma is a previous Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He was President of COP26 when the UK hosted the international climate conference in 2021, which resulted in the Glasgow Climate Pact.
If this is about creating jobs, then, as the Local Government Association has said, you can create a lot more jobs doing this in green sectors.
Alok Sharma, President of COP26.
Rain Newton-Smith is the Chief Economist at the CBI, which has a vision for a healthier, more diverse, greener and innovation-rich economy.
It’s a huge step backwards. Coal is hugely damaging, we have the resources in the UK to accelerate our investment in renewables not go backwards. A sad day for our climate leadership and sends the wrong signal on policy. Business wants more climate leadership not less.
Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Economist at the CBI.
Opening a coal mine in the UK now is a serious mistake. An economic, social, environmental, financial and political mistake. Economically, it is investing in the technologies of the last century, not this century, and that is the wrong path to growth. Socially, it is pursuing jobs in industries that are on the way out, creating future job insecurity.
Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics.
Several steel makers in the UK and globally are now making plans to move away from coal and instead manufacture green steel through cleaner technologies... Those are the technologies and globally relevant supply chains that the UK should seek to gain a competitive advantage in and where new and secure jobs can be created across the country and for the long-term.
Aldersgate Group, a net zero alliance of businesses and others.
Whitehaven needs jobs. But jobs in new green industries, like renewable energy and insulating our buildings, will last longer and will help the UK become a world leader in new technologies.
Government's advisors say decision is wrong
The Climate Change Committee is an independent body set up in 2008 to advise the government on how to combat climate change and to report on progress on reducing climate change emissions.
It’s allowing a coal mine when we’ve been fighting to stop coal being burnt throughout the world.
...The whole of the Climate Change Committee, they’re experts, they’re scientists, every one of them thinks this is entirely wrong.
Lord Deben, Chair of the Climate Change Committee.
This is a very bad decision – supporting a technology of the past, with a very poor prospectus for new UK jobs.
Chris Stark, Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee.
So the UK steel industry doesn't want the coal mine and warns that the jobs will be short-lived. The government's own climate advisors don't want the mine as it isn't compatible with the UK's target of net zero emissions by 2050. And leaders around the world are stunned by the UK's apparent hypocrisy in pushing other countries to move away from coal while digging up and burning more here.
Whitehaven deserves better – investment in industries with a future, not in ones that belong in the past.
