Support local campaign group resist Bedwas coal mine A tiny bit of background... Mining company, ERI Ltd, is applying to mine nearly half a million tonnes of coal from two coal tips dumped in Caerphilly, South Wales by the same mining industry last time it operated in the area. The company claims it’ll use some of its profits from coal sales to remediate the two tips afterwards. But this is just to greenwash its mining application as a ‘remediation project’—a ploy with a long history in South Wales. Nobody’s buying it; companies cut and run when the profit dries up, with over 300 coal tip ..read more

Proposed Bedwas coal tips mine: key facts and impacts Mining company, ERI Ltd, is applying to mine nearly half a million tonnes of coal from two coal tips dumped in Caerphilly, South Wales, by the mining industry last time it operated in the area. It's vital we stop this shameless attempt to exploit the mess left behind by the mining industry to justify yet more mining. If the coal tip mining were to go ahead, it would: Carry around 468,000 tonnes of coal off the site for sale Inflict on local communities around 36 HGVs/day driving to and from the tips Drive further climate chaos by over ..read more

Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine quietly becomes a massive reservoir Local residents kept in the dark https://youtu.be/n5LLh7Y_pqY Company removes water pumps in wilful disregard for local residents The Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, has become a truly cautionary tale on the power of the fossil fuel industry and of the impunity of companies behind large-scale projects. In its most recent act of environmental vandalism, mining company Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd removed its pumps to allow the massive void it created to fill with water. Permitting millions of gallo ..read more

Global Week of Action: Putting Insurance Industry in the Hot Seat The insurance industry found itself in the spotlight last week as a Global Week of Action blossomed across the world. From February 27th to March 3rd 2024, a wave of protests, both online and in the streets, swept through the doors of insurance giants, demanding accountability over their support for polluters and decisive action on climate change. Unprecedented Mobilisation Never before have these companies faced such pressure to clean their act up and insure our future, not fossil fuels. The Week of Action saw hundreds of ..read more

Success: Yet another major insurer rules out the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline A massive win from the Global Week of Action, 26th February - 3rd March 2024. After a week of peaceful protest around the world, alongside hundreds of groups, our efforts have paid off. Yet another leading insurance company, Probitas, has ruled out insuring the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). Probitas is the 29th insurance company to rule out EACOP and the sixth to rule out West Cumbria coal mine.  Insurance is the po ..read more

Bedwas coal tip: a new frontier for coal in South Wales? Key project details 'Energy Recovery Investments Ltd' is proprosing to extract waste coal from large coal tips created by the Bedwas Colliery (1913 - 1985) in Bedwas, Caerphilly, South Wales over an operational period of 7 years (but this is often extended later). The company claims that it would use some of the sales of the coal to restore those coal tips afterwards. Based on historical estimates, the total volume of the Tips is approximately 5,000,000m³ which equates to around 8,500,000 tonnes of colliery spoil. The Tips are class ..read more

Charges dropped for activists blocking Ffos-y-fran coal mine XR press release: The Crown Prosecution Service has dropped all charges against the four Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists who blockaded the entrance to the UK’s largest open-cast coal mine, last summer with a pink boat. While removing the immediate burden of legal confrontation for the defendants, the decision has left a “crater of unfinished business” in the fight for climate justice and accountability for local residents.. “The action was always designed to have a much deeper impact beyond the immediate disruption with a pin ..read more

Coal clings on in Aberpergwm appeal Citing different grounds to the High Court, the Court of Appeal has nevertheless found against our appeal. The Court of Appeal judges disagreed with the judge in the High Court, and decided that current statute limits Welsh Ministers to only deciding whether a new conditional licence may be issued—rather than deciding at the stage that a conditional licence is turned into a full licence, which is what allows coal mining to begin. This judgement is disappointing, and runs contrary to the careful analysis of the High Court judge and the position expressed ..read more

Aberpergwm coal mine extension debated in court Today, 6th February 2024, Coal Action Network was back in court, this time appealing last year’s decision by the court that the Welsh Government couldn’t prevent an extension at Aberpergwm coal mine. Our legal team believes the Welsh Government can, and we believe it should, stop the Aberpergwm extension—keeping 42 million tonnes of coal underground. At stake in this case is an additional 1.17 million tonnes of methane and up to 120 million tonnes of CO2 would be released. Barristers Estelle Dehon KC and Asitha Ranatunga (Cornerstone Barrist ..read more

Victory! Leading Global Insurers Rule Out East African Crude Oil Pipeline Five More Insurance Companies Rule Out EACOP We’re thrilled to announce that after months of campaigning, five more major insurance companies have announced they will not support the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)! This is a huge win for communities all over the world fighting fossil fuel pollution. With your support, we’ve kept the pressure up on companies at the controversial insurance marketplace, Lloyd’s of London. As a result, 5 of those companies – SiriusPoint, Riverstone International, Enstar Group ..read more