ENVIRONMENTAL and economic bodies have condemned the Australian government’s decision to approve the expansion of three coal mines in New South Wales.
Calling the plans “disastrous” and “out of step”, organisations, including the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), believe that expanding the coal mines could impact the country’s climate goals.
Gavan McFadzean, the ACF’s climate programme manager, said: “Together, these coal mines will generate more than 1.3 billion tonnes of lifetime emissions which will undermine Australia reaching net zero by 2050.”
Tanya Plibersek, the environment secretary, approved the extension of Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri mine, Mach Energy’s Mount Pleasant mine, and Yancoal’s Ravensworth mine.
The commissioning for the mines has been extended to between eight and 20 years.
Plibersek defended the decision, saying they were in accordance with environmental law and that the emissions accumulated would be considered under the government’s safeguarding mechanism for reducing emissions from major polluters, reports The Guardian.
The government’s current environmental laws, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999, do not directly address climate change, and academic and environmental bodies have called for reforms.
A report from the University of Melbourne stated: “There is no climate-related ‘matter of national environmental significance’ included in the EPBC Act. A project’s climate impacts alone do not trigger the need for assessment and approval of the project under the federal legislation.”
The government reform plans include establishing Australia’s first independent environmental protection agency, Environmental Protection Australia, and investing A$100m (US$68m) into environmental approvals.
However, these plans have been deferred “indefinitely”, as ministers have failed to reach an agreement on the reforms.
The value of Australian thermal coal exports has been on the decline, with export earnings expected to drop from A$36 billion in FY2023-24 to around A$21 billion by FY2028-29, according to the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
The downturn is linked to China’s strong hold over the market and the decrease in demand from Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
The IEEFA stated in its report: “With demand for Australia’s high-energy coal in terminal decline, at some point it will be insufficient to support mines’ viability.”
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