ADANI’S ANNOUNCEMENT that it intends to proceed with its Carmichael coal mine and rail project in Queensland poses a grave risk to Australia, according to the Climate Council.
“Adani now says it will self-fund the mega-mine. The company made the announcement on a day when large parts of Queensland are burning and when the state is experiencing drought made worse by climate change,” said Climate Council CEO, Amanda McKenzie.
“Adani has put the ball firmly in the court of the major political parties. Do they support a coal mine that is fundamentally at odds with protecting Australia from the worst impacts of climate change,” she said.
“Adani Mining CEO Lucas Dow claimed today that the project stacks up environmentally. This is ludicrous. In the face of intensifying climate change, no new fossil fuel project stacks up,” she said.
If the development goes ahead it could encourage other coal proposals in Queensland’s Galilee Basin.
“This has the potential to be a carbon bomb. If all of the Galilee Basin coal was burned, it is estimated that 705 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be released each year – that’s more than 1.3 times Australia’s current annual emissions,” said the Climate Council’s Head of Research, Dr Martin Rice.
“Coal is a risky business. Company directors who do not properly consider climate change-related risks may be held legally liable for breaching their duty of care,” said Dr Rice.
“The most pressing challenge Australia faces is how to phase out existing coal mines well before their reserves are exhausted. We simply cannot open any new mines,” he said.
“The development of the Carmichael coal mine and the Galilee Basin also threatens the Great Barrier Reef. We should be protecting the reef and Queensland’s tourism industry, rather than opening new coal mines,” he said.
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