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Climate activists from around the country gathered at 12pm on 14th Feb 2025 outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London, to express their anger about the continuation of subsidies for Drax power station, which has already received £7bn of public money since 2012 [1]. Dressed in pink and red for Valentine's day, protestors gathered under the slogan ‘Ed Miliband: Dump Drax’ and heard speeches from Biofuelwatch, Campaign Against Climate Change and Axe Drax.
The recent Government decision to extend subsidies for Drax past 2027 to 2031 will cost bill payers at least £1.8 billion in new subsidies [1]. The protestors condemned this decision, highlighting the impact on bill payers, forests, communities abroad and high emissions from burning wood pellets in power stations. This decision came the day after the BBC revealed another year in which Drax had sourced from primary and old-growth forests that the power station had not properly disclosed [2].
This demonstration was part of a wider emergency mobilisation coordinated by the Stop Burning Trees Coalition, with demonstrations simultaneously happening in Leeds, Tyneside and Nottingham, alongside demonstrations earlier in the week in Bristol and Somerset on Monday after the decision was announced.
Merry Dickinson, lead campaigner for the Stop Burning Trees Coalition, said:
‘The recent Government decision to extend subsidies for Drax, the UK’s single largest carbon emitter, spells disaster for bill payers, forests, communities suffering Drax’s pollution, biodiversity and our planet. This decision will drive us closer to climate chaos and result in vital forests being destroyed whilst putting an added burden on bill payers. Using our money to fund forest destruction, pollution and the profits of Drax’s shareholders is a disgrace. We need investment in real green energy, in climate action that genuinely reduces emissions and brings down people's bills.’
Sally Clark, bioenergy campaigner for Biofuelwatch, said:
‘The Government’s decision to grant billions more in renewable subsidies from our energy bills to the world’s biggest tree burner, Drax, is a catastrophe for forests, wildlife, communities and the climate. If the Government is serious about tackling the climate emergency and the cost of living crisis, it should be investing in genuine climate solutions like home insulation or wind and solar power, not sending our futures up in smoke by funding big polluters like Drax.’
ENDS
Stop Burning Trees Coalition
Stop Burning Trees is a grassroots coalition of 25 member groups working to end all subsidies for large-scale woody biomass power stations and for a just transition. Founded in 2022, the coalition is a mix of environmental, social and worker justice groups. We are a broad based coalition, primarily located in Yorkshire, campaigning for an end to Drax and Lynemouth’s pollution, demanding a just transition for all workers and in active solidarity with frontline impacted communities abroad.
Drax
Drax Power Station, located near Selby in Yorkshire, is the world’s biggest woody biomass power station and the UK’s single largest carbon emitter. Drax sources from around the world, primarily the US, Canada, and the Baltic States. Drax’s wood pellet production sites, predominantly located in environmental justice communities, emit large amounts of pollutants, such as PM10, PM2.5 and VOCs which are linked to respiratory and pulmonary health impacts. Woody biomass is counted as carbon neutral by the UK Government, allowing Drax to receive renewable energy subsidies (CfDs and ROCs).
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