MELBOURNE: Since being elected last year on a climate action platform, the Australian government, for the first time, has approved a new coal mine policy.
A spokeswoman said the government was constrained by national environment legislation considering Central Queensland’s Isaac River coal mine.
Under those laws, a single coal mining proposal has ever been rejected. According to scientists, new fossil fuel projects are incompatible with the goals of the international climate treaty. The Isaac River coal mine, constructed close to Moranbah, 11 hour’s drive north of Brisbane, is anticipated to produce roughly 2.5 million tonnes of coal over five years.
Coking coal, known as metallurgical or steelmaking coal, will be extracted from the mine. Although a minor mine compared to others in the state, the Australia Institute estimates it will produce around 7 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in its lifetime. Because the planned development would raise greenhouse gas emissions and harm the habitat of animals like the koala, the central greater glider, and the ornamental snake that are endangered or vulnerable, environmental groups had urged the government to forbid it.
However, the government said it had not yet submitted any comments under the official consultation period when Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s intended decision was made public on Thursday afternoon. According to a spokesman for Plibersek, “the Albanese government has to make decisions based on the facts and the national environment law – that’s what happened here.” Before the development is formally approved, which typically takes a few months, the mine’s proponents, Bowen Coking Coal, will have the chance to respond to any proposed conditions.
Anthony Albanese’s Labour administration, elected in May 2022 after running on a platform of stronger climate action, has negotiated to establish a carbon cap for the nation’s largest emitters and entrenched a more ambitious emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030. But it has steadfastly resisted excluding new coal and gas projects. Furthermore, although it stopped a coal mine in February for the first time due to environmental concerns, it did not consider climate change.
According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), new fossil fuel projects are incompatible with the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees. It states that infrastructure still using fossil fuels should be phased out immediately. According to Sarah Hanson-Young, the environment spokeswoman for the Greens, the judgment showed the need for reform. Environment regulations in Australia need to be fixed. Polluting projects aren’t accounting for the pollution they produce, she claimed.
