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| Sun, 31st Jan 2021 10:29:00 |
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Climate change: Minister rapped for allowing Cumbria coal mine |
The government’s climate change advisors have rapped ministers for allowing a new coal mine in Cumbria.
They say the site will increase global emissions and compromise the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets.
They warn the decision could undermine its leadership of the vital COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
The new deep coking coal mine was agreed by Cumbria County Council and the government previously said it did not want to intervene.
The rebuke comes in the form of a letter from the chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), Lord Deben, to the planning minister Robert Jenrick, which says:
The decision to award planning permission to 2049 will commit the UK to emissions from coking coal, for which there may be no domestic use after 2035. 85% of the coal is planned for export to Europe
It is not the CCC’s role to act as a regulator or a planning authority, but we would urge you to consider further the UK’s policy towards all new coal developments, for whatever purpose
This decision also highlights the critical importance of local councillors and planning authorities considering the implications of their decisions on climate targets. In this regard, I would ask that we discuss the provision of guidance to local authorities
It is for ministers to decide how the effort to reach Net Zero (almost nil carbon emissions) should be allocated across the economy, but it is also important to note that this decision gives a negative impression of the UK’s climate priorities in the year of COP26
In response to the letter, a government spokesperson said the decision to allow the coal mine would not be reversed.
Cumbria councillors told BBC News there were no good planning grounds for them to refuse permission for the mine, near Whitehaven, and said it would help to diversify local employment prospects.
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