At the ongoing general meeting of ČEZ, Greenpeace activists protested against the extension and expansion of mining at the Bílina brown coal mine in northern Bohemia. During the action organised by Greenpeace Czechia, a Greenpeace activist, who is also a shareholder of the company and who took part in the protest at the Bílina mine last week, made a speech calling on the company’s management to stop the extension of mining at the Bílina mine. As he spoke, activists approached him with banners reading „ČEZ, neprodlužujte těžbu na Bílině“ (Don’t Prolong Mining in Bílina) and End Fossil Crimes. After the speech, the protesters gathered under the podium where the management and the Supervisory Board of ČEZ were sitting at the time and unfurled more banners. The General Meeting was suspended due to the protest. The shareholders which took part in the process were escorted out of the building and therefore their shareholder rights were violated. Some will file a shareholder lawsuit against the company demanding the annulation of the whole general meeting.
The mining company Severočeské doly received a permit to expand the Bílina mine from the District Mining Office in Most this March and the Czech Greenpeace office appealed against it. Greenpeace has long criticised the plans for mining up to 2035, calling them a climate crime.
Greenpeace activists from the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany also climbed onto an excavator at the Bílina mine last Thursday to protest the planned expansion of mining. They attached a huge banner with the English words „End Fossil Crimes“ to the structure of the excavator. After a few hours, they replaced it with a banner with the Czech inscription „End mining 2030“.
Jaroslav Bican, Greenpeace’s energy campaign coordinator, said:
„We consider the extension of mining at the Bílina mine beyond 2030 to be a climate crime. That is why Greenpeace activists from the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany took to the local excavator last week to call on the CEZ group to abandon its plans to continue mining. Today, one of these activists also came directly to the company’s AGM to deliver his message. Continued mining at the Bílina mine is damaging the environment and the high emissions from the coal produced are having a significant impact on the climate. Although the Czech Government committed in its programme statement to end coal by 2033, mining is now threatened even beyond 2035.“
Lisa Göldner, Lead Campaigner for Greenpeace’s Fossil Free Revolution campaign, said: “Greenpeace wants to put a bright spotlight on the imminent climate destruction at Bílina. ČEZ’s intention to prolong the life of this mine will create climate shockwaves across Europe and the wider world if it is not stopped. In this unprecedented climate crisis, it is nothing but a fossil crime to prolong the life of a dirty, polluting coal mine.”
Bílina produces lignite coal, one of the most carbon-intensive of all fossil fuels and a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions. The mine supplies the nearby Ledvice Power Station, as well as several local heating plants.
If ČEZ’s application is approved, it could mean at least an extra 41.5 million tonnes of coal will be extracted from Bílina, which, according to the Czech Ministry of the Environment’s assessment, will cause the release of an estimated 11.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year on average.
Worryingly, the extension permit has no binding time limit, meaning coal mining could reportedly continue at this location beyond 2035. The extension until 2035 also conflicts with the Czech government’s pledge to phase out coal by 2033 at the latest.
The Czech government has the power to stop the mine from being enlarged by cancelling the mine’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) permit, or by issuing an official statement against the prolongation of the mining which would be legally binding for the mining authority.
To stand a chance of limiting global heating to 1.5°C and stop the climate crisis from escalating further, Greenpeace is calling on the Czech environment minister Petr Hladík to scrap the positive Environmental Impact Assessment granted for the mining extension, so coal comes to a complete stop in Bílina by 2030 at the latest.