LONDON: Britain announced on Thursday (Nov 14) that it will introduce legislation to ban new coal mines, as the Labor government steps up its plans to make Britain a clean energy leader.

The government said it will unveil the new law to limit the future licensing of new coal mines “as soon as possible”, in what it called a “crucial step” to tackle climate change.

It comes after Britain’s last coal-fired Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station closed in October, making the UK the first G7 country to end its reliance on fossil fuels for electricity.

In a landmark ruling in September, UK courts overturned a permit given by the former Conservative government to a project in Whitehaven, Cumbria, which would have been the country’s first new coal mine in 30 years.

It would have mined metallurgical coal used solely for steelmaking.

Energy Secretary Michael Shanks said in a statement that “consigning coal power to the past” would “pave the way for a clean, secure energy system that will protect bill payers and create a new generation of skilled workers”.

Coal has gone from generating about 40 percent of Britain’s electricity supply in 2012 to zero percent today, the government said in a statement.

Labor won the general election in July promising to be more ambitious on policies aimed at meeting Britain’s climate change commitments, pledging, among other things, to reduce carbon emissions from the electricity grid by 2030.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in Baku, Azerbaijan for UN climate summitsaid Britain would aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 81 percent on 1990 levels by 2035, as part of the government’s plans to reach net zero by 2050.

The centre-left government has also ended an effective Tory ban on new onshore wind projects and ended new oil and gas exploration licenses in the North Sea.