Mark Carney comes out against proposed coal mine in Cumbria
The former head of the Bank of England Mark Carney has come out against the planned coal mine in Cumbria because it risks derailing progress on climate change.
Last week the local government secretary Robert Jenrick announced an investigation into the mine after “further developments” which reportedly included a report from the independent committee on climate change.
As “controversy about the coal mine has increased… [Jenrick] considers that this application raises planning issues of more than local importance,” according to a letter sent to the local council in Cumbria.
Since leaving the central bank last March Carney has turned his attention to climate change and is now an adviser to the government’s COP26 conference.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning said the coal mine is “a decision for the government but I think the standard by which major investments should be judged… one of the standards is whether they’re consistent with our objective to get to net zero”.
“I can’t reconcile it with the overall objective, at least in my mind.”
Carney, who has also been appointed the UN’s special envoy for climate action and finance, added: “For an issue like climate change it’s an exisetnail risk and you can’t have a trade off, you have to have a hierarchy of values. The objective of stabilising the climate, measured by getting to net zero commissions, that has to be the goal.”
“Once society establishes that… then the market shows its power, innovators succeed when they come up with solutions to get us to net zero,” he added.