Britain’s climate leadership, which gave its approval to the coal mine, is called into question

Claiming to be the “leader” in the fight against climate change, the UK has been criticized for being “hypocritical” on climate policies by climate activists, non-governmental organisations, scientists and public representatives in many parts of the world, for having approved a coal mine project for the first time in 30 years.

UK Housing and Development Minister Michael Gove announced on 7th December that he had approved a coal mine project in the country’s north-western Cumbria region. With this decision, the British government approved a coal mine project in the country for the first time in 30 years.

The project, in which approximately £165m will be invested, is estimated to increase UK greenhouse gas emissions by 400,000 tonnes per year, while the coal that will be produced will go into steel production.

On the other hand, England went to great lengths to “make coal history” at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), which it hosted in Glasgow last year, and the chairman of COP26 Alok Sharma affirmed “exit from coal” in the final declaration of the summit. Instead of the “reducing coal use” article, he tearfully apologized.

Just one year after this summit, the UK’s approval of a coal mine project in the country for the first time in 30 years was criticized by climate activists, NGO representatives, climate experts and public representatives from many parts of the world. world.

Many people, especially with their statements on social media, accused the UK of hypocrisy and greenwashing in its policies to combat climate change. John Gummer, chairman of the UK Committee on Climate Change, who was among the first to react to the decision, claimed that going coal is the clearest way to reach zero emissions, saying: “We condemn this decision. “While this decision increases global emissions, it also undermines the country’s efforts to achieve net zero emissions.” (AA)