Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Senedd on Wednesday to oppose the Aberpergwm colliery expansion, banging drums in an effort to get the politicians inside to listen. Flares of black smoke were also let off to highlight the burning of more coal as a result of the extension.
The protest was called by an alliance of movements calling itself ‘Coal-Free Future Cymru’.
Several groups and parties backed the event, including the COP26 Coalition, Extinction Rebellion Cymru, the Wales Green Party and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
Extinction Rebellion protesters could be seen marching in a procession up to the Senedd carrying a coffin representing ‘the death of future generations’, upon which rested pairs of children’s shoes.
The protest comes after it was announced that a new extension to the coal mine in south Wale could see 1.17 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere at a time of rapid climate breakdown.
Energybuild Mining Limited, the company who owns the mine, have said that Aberpergwm is the “only source of high-grade anthracite in Western Europe,” and that the licence will enable the excavation of 40 million tonnes of hard coal over the next 20 years. This would completely undermine any hopes of Wales being a zero-carbon country by the middle of the century.
The protest followed action by campaigners on Friday at the Aberpergwm colliery itself, in Neath Valley, where up to 50 people from Extinction Rebellion occupied the site. Activists climbing the roof of office buildings and locking themselves together in the Energybuild office.
Speaking ahead of the protest, Anne Harris, Campaigner at Coal Action Network, said that an extension of the coal mine cannot be allowed to go ahead.
“The Governments and mine owners have had plenty of time to wind down the operation and prepare workers to transition into more sustainable jobs,” she said.
“If this coal is mined, it would release 1.17 million tonnes of the very strong greenhouse gas, methane. If the 40+ million tonnes of coal are consumed in the steel works and domestic heating that Energybuild Ltd says the majority of the coal is destined for, it would release around 100 million tonnes more of CO2 into the atmosphere, worsening climate change.”
Meanwhile, David France, from Extinction Rebellion Cymru, said that the company EnergyBuild were ‘sitting pretty, profiting from destroying the planet while their skilled workers do a dangerous job.”
“Here in Wales,” he said. “We have the economic, social and technological solutions to end fossil fuels, while protecting the livelihoods of workers and transitioning to a clean, green future.”
“At COP26,” he continued, “Welsh politicians promised to lead the world on the climate emergency by phasing out coal. Now we demand they act on that promise: To stand up to EnergyBuild’s greenwashing, to give workers a just transition, and to put people and planet before corporate greed and short-term thinking.”
Anthony Slaughter, Leader of the Wales Green Party, who attended the protest, said that attempts by both [Welsh and UK] governments to avoid responsibility for this decision was “a betrayal of future generations.”
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS, who also attended the event, said it was ‘madness’ to open a new coal mine extension after the UK had hosted the COP26 climate summit, sold as a once-in-a-generation chance to halt environmental catastrophe.
There is currently a dispute between the Welsh Government and UK Government about who is responsible for the final permits for the expansion. But Extinction Rebellion say Welsh Government must stop the mining going ahead and that the focus needs to be on helping workers to transition into more sustainable jobs.
Meanwhile, the UK Coal Authority are going ahead with the granting of the colliery license, saying they cannot consider climate change as part of their license application process. The activist group Coal Action Network is currently fundraising for a judicial review against this decision.
