Why Greta Thunberg is opposing Adani’s coal-mining project in Australia?


Adani Power is building Carmichael Coal mine at the Galilee Basin in Queensland

The Germany based engineering company, Siemens, said on Monday that it would continue to honour its contract with India’s Adani Power in its upcoming mining project in Australia, defying warnings and requests from environmental activists, including Greta Thunberg.

Adani Power is receiving signalling systems for a railway line that the company is building in Australia’s Queensland state. The major chunk of coal produced in the project will be exported to India while some will be used in Australia.

Greta Thunberg recently tweeted that Siemens has the power to stop, delay or at least interrupt the building of huge Adani coal mine in Australia.

What is Adani’s coal mining project in Australia?

Adani Power is building the Carmichael Railroad project and Carmichael Coal mine at the Galilee Basin in Queensland state. This would be the largest coal mining project in Australia and one of the largest in the world. This is located at the 160 km northwest of Clermont in Central Queensland. The region is also known as Capricornia.

Adani Coal-mining project in Australia
Adani Coal-mining project in Australia

The value of the project is $16.5 billion and it is expected to produce 8-10 million tonnes of thermal coal a year. The project got the approval of the Australian government last year.

The Galilee Basin is one of the largest untapped reserves of coal in the world, spread across 247,000 sq km. It is only behind Western China as the second biggest fossil fuel expansion on the planet.

The mine will be connected by the Carmichael Rail Project. It will have an operational capacity of 100 million tonnes per annum. The three-diesel locomotive train will posses 220 wagons and will carry 23,760 tonnes of coal and will complete a round trip in under a day’s time.

Why environmentalists are protesting against the coal-mining project?

Environmentalists have staged country-wide protests in Australia against the Queensland project lots of them running “Adani go back” campaign to deter the Adani group from moving ahead. Protestors believe that the project will increase global warming and also threaten the Great Barrier Reef.

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The Great Barrier Reef consists of thousands of small reefs stretching nearly 2,300 km. The marine ecosystems boast of approx 600 varieties of coral and are considered a paradise for marine species. It is said to be one of the most important environmental entities on the planet.

Australia is one of the largest carbon emitters per capita due to it being a coal-based power plant energy producer. The protestors believe that continued use of coal will lead to higher greenhouse emissions.
