The government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has given group approval to the opening of the UK's first coal mine in three decades, a decision that has sent environmentalists and parliamentarians up in arms.
The mine, which will cost 165 million pounds sterling (about 192 million euros) will be located in Whitehaven, Cumbria, north of England, provided the project is approved locally in 2019, and will work with 500 people. It is expected to produce three million tons of metallurgical coal per year, 18 percent of the country's annual consumption. It was the Minister in charge of Territorial Cohesion, Michael Gove, who made the announcement and explained that "this coal was used for the production of steel."
The decision clashes with the British policy of recent years to reduce the use of fossil fuels to the maximum, but Gove assured that the mine, in addition to contributing to "local employment and the economy in general", will operate in accordance with the principles of net zero emissions, one that environmentalists have called impossible. The Guardian denounced that it will produce 400.000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to 200.000 more controls on the roads.
“Ridiculous” and “terrible” are like the Cumbrian MP, including Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, the decision, which in addition to the word is a “pathetic failure of leadership”. Harder was Caroline Lucas, deputy from the Green party, for which it amounts to a "climate crime against humanity." For Alok Sharma, the Conservative MP who chaired COP26 last year in Glasgow, "protecting a new carbon mine will not only be a step backwards for UK climate action, but will also damage" its "international reputation." hard-earned." Labor say it is clear that Rishi Sunak is a "fossil fuel prime minister in a renewable age", there is a conservative newspaper such as The Telegraph accusing the government of having "downgraded the diplomatic credibility of this country for no compelling economic reason", and "has hurt efforts to make Britain a global cleantech hub, the real growth accelerator of this decade if they would only seize the opportunity." In addition, he foresees that "the mine will be a stranded asset long before the end of its commercial life cycle in 2049."
"Secure a coal mine in the UK now is a serious mistake: economic, social, environmental, financial and political," said Nicholas Stern, British economist and environmental academic and member of the House of Lords. , which considers that "economically it is investing in the technologies of the last century", that "socially it is seeking jobs in industries that are disappearing" and "politically it is undermining the authority of the United Kingdom on the most important global issue of our time". Agreeing with these claims are also Greenpeace activists, who believe the UK has become a “superpower in climate hypocrisy”.
But the defenders of the decision argue that after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and considering that 40% of the coal needed to make steel comes from Russia, it is necessary to ensure energy security. But according to The Guardian, most of the coal produced will be exported, most British steel producers rejecting it because of its high sulfur content. Furthermore, they point out, the mine is ultimately owned by an international private equity firm, with executives whose mining interests have spread to Russia, Asia, Africa and Australia. Thus, West Cumbria Mining is located in Sussex, in the south of England, but is owned by a private equity investment firm, EMR Capital, based in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands. This could be a problem, as Daniel Therkelsen of the Coal Action Network explained that it would be difficult for local authorities to hold a remote private equity firm to account.
