Your investment in West Cumbria Mining and the proposed Whitehaven coal mine

ClientEarth warns EMR Capital that financing the proposed Whitehaven coal mine in West Cumbria poses significant climate-related financial risks and may breach fiduciary duties to investors. The letter highlights the mine's incompatibility with the 1.5°C warming limit and the likelihood of it becoming a stranded asset due to declining demand for coking coal in the UK and EU steel industries. ClientEarth further asserts that the investment contradicts EMR Capital's status as a UN PRI signatory and its own ESG policy, potentially exposing the firm to legal challenges and accusations of greenwashing.

• The proposed Cumbria Mine is fundamentally incompatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and achieving net zero emissions by 2050, as the IEA states that "no new coal mines or extensions of existing ones are needed" to reach these targets.
• The mine faces significant climate-related financial risks, specifically the risk of becoming a stranded asset due to falling demand for coking coal in its primary target markets of the UK and Europe.
• The environmental impact of the mine is substantial, with operational emissions estimated at 1.9MtCO2e in a 'mitigated scenario' and potential lifetime downstream (Scope 3) emissions estimated up to 194MtCO2e.
• EMR Capital's investment contradicts its public commitments as a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and its own ESG policy, which claims to support the Paris Agreement.
• By ignoring foreseeable material climate-related financial risks, EMR Capital may be breaching its fiduciary duties of loyalty and prudence owed to the investors in the EMR Capital Resources Fund 1 LP.
• The investment may lead to legal or regulatory consequences for 'greenwashing' if EMR Capital's public claims about responsible investment mislead its investors.

APA

ClientEarth (2022). Your investment in West Cumbria Mining and the proposed Whitehaven coal mine. https://www.clientearth.org/media/p0bjkxxa/2022-07-26-clientearth-letter-to-emr-capital-pdf.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Your investment in West Cumbria Mining and the proposed Whitehaven coal mine. 2022. https://www.clientearth.org/media/p0bjkxxa/2022-07-26-clientearth-letter-to-emr-capital-pdf.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=Your investment in West Cumbria Mining and the proposed Whitehaven coal mine |date=26 July 2022 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/p0bjkxxa/2022-07-26-clientearth-letter-to-emr-capital-pdf.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2022your, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Your investment in West Cumbria Mining and the proposed Whitehaven coal mine}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2022}, month = jul, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/p0bjkxxa/2022-07-26-clientearth-letter-to-emr-capital-pdf.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }