©
Tom Jefferson/Greenpeace
In our campaign to stop dangerous climate change, Greenpeace is taking on one
of the most urgent issues: the enormous expansion of coal mining and coal
exports from Australia. Not only does coal expansion spell disaster for our
global climate but it threatens one of the world’s most precious treasures, the
Great Barrier Reef.
The Galilee Basin, located in the heart of Queensland, is the site of a
series of proposed mega mines that could see Australia’s coal exports more than
double within a decade. Enormous coal mines mean enormous amounts of carbon
pollution and supporting infrastructure – including at least one rail line and
multiple massive port terminals. Australia is on the brink of turning the Great
Barrier Reef World Heritage Area into an industrial estate.
Greenpeace documented the impacts of the coal expansion plans in
‘Boom
goes the Reef,’ a report released March 1, 2012. Impacts include:
- Six times more coal ships travelling through the Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage Area.
- Six-fold increase in coal port capacity along the Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage Area. This includes the development of Abbott Point port, which would
become three times larger than any other coal port in the world. The Australian
Government is set to approve this port within weeks.
- 113 million cubic meters of dredging in the World Heritage Area due to
industrial expansion. This proposed dredging would destroy vital marine habitat,
including habitat for endangered Loggerhead and Olive Ridley turtles.
The report was released, and supported by a
creative
action, to coincide with the visit of the World Heritage custodians from
UNESCO who are concerned about the impacts of development on the reef. Under
pressure, the Australian and Queensland Governments announced a ‘strategic
assessment’ to understand the impacts on the reef. We’re urging these
governments to not approve any major coastal developments while this strategic
assessment is being done.
Our campaign has clearly hit a nerve. On the eve of UNESCO’s visit, a
confidential draft of a campaign proposal to challenge the increasingly reckless
expansion of the coal industry found its way into the hands of the coal industry
and two national newspapers and received widespread coverage. Three days of
front-page stories in the national press followed.
We have faced a massive and hysterical backlash from the mining industry and
several Australian politicians (including the Prime Minister, the Trade
Minister, the Energy Minister and the Environment Minister) who made absurd
claims in their attacks on our campaign. Rio Tinto is calling us ‘
economic
vandals', the Minerals Council of Australia claim we are attacking
Australia's
'national interest', the Treasurer declared that we were
"
irrational",
"deeply irresponsible" and "
destructive’
and the Minister for Trade has accused us of driving ‘
mass
starvation’.Read more:
