London’s High Court has ruled that the approval of the UK’s first new deep coal mine in decades was unlawful, following a legal challenge by environmental groups Friends of the Earth and South Lakeland Action on Climate Change. The court’s decision stems from the Conservative government’s 2022 approval of a coking coal mine in northwest England.
This ruling is significant as it is the first to be decided since a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, which mandated that planning authorities must consider the impact of burning fossil fuels, not just their extraction. Friends of the Earth senior lawyer Niall Toru noted that this ruling could have international implications for similar fossil fuel project challenges.
The developer, West Cumbria Mining, argued that the mine would not increase greenhouse gas emissions and would serve a unique purpose in steel manufacturing. However, Judge David Holgate found this assumption to be legally flawed, stating that the proposed mine’s potential emissions were not adequately considered.
West Cumbria Mining has indicated that it will review the implications of the High Court’s judgment.