In 2020, private company Energybuild Ltd applied to the UK Coal Authority to deconditionalise the remaining conditional part of a coal mine licence, relating to a site in Aberpergwm, Wales. The purpose of the application was to expand mining operations. Emissions relating to the proposed expansion were estimated at approximately 100 million tonnes of CO2 from combustion of the coal and 1.17 million tonnes of methane gas, until the license expires in 2039.
In January 2022 the Coal Authority approved the application, resulting in a public law challenge by Coal Action Network, a group that aims to end coal use within the UK. The challenge was heard by the High Court in March 2023. In May 2023 the claim was rejected.
The judge dismissed ground 1. Whilst Welsh Ministers now have the power to approve or decline authorisations for coal mining in Wales, that power was not applicable. The licence in question was granted before the power came into force, and there was a presumption against legislation having retrospective effect which was applied here.
The judge dismissed ground 2, which alleged the Coal Authority had interpreted its statutory powers too narrowly and, as a result, ignored relevant considerations concerning climate policy and climate impacts. The matters relied on by the claimant were not material to the Coal Authority’s task, which was to determine whether the conditions precedent in the conditional licenses had been fulfilled. The Coal Policy Statement, relied on by the claimant, only expresses what the Welsh Ministers’ intend to do, or not do, in future with respect to coal extraction. The statement was not relevant to the Authority’s limited task of determining whether the conditions precedent were satisfied. Nor were the adverse climate change impacts, and the effect on the Welsh Ministers’ ability to meet their climate change targets, relevant to whether the conditions precedent were satisfied.
On May. 31, 2023, the judge granted the claimants permission to appeal certain findings in her judgment. On Feb. 6, 2024 the Court of Appeal heard the appeal, reserving its judgment.
CAN (Coal Action Network) v. Coal Authority and Welsh Ministers
Case Categories:
Jurisdictions:
Principal Laws:
Summary:
At Issue: Whether the Coal Authority misinterpreted its legal powers and the Welsh government were in error of law under the Coal Industry Act 1994 to allow expansion of the Aberpergwm coal mine.