Just days before the Albanese government leads the Pre-COP minister meetings in Fiji, the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) approved the largest coal mine expansion ever proposed in New South Wales – the Glencore and Yancoal’s Hunter Valley Operations Continuation Project (HVO).
350.org Pacific and other communities, which made over 4000 submissions opposing the move, said that the coal mine expansion will release 800 million more tonnes of climate pollution. The catastrophic level of emissions will drive already intensifying climate disasters in the Pacific, with the world already set to exceed the 1.5-degree limit in the next decade.
Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese
350.org warned the Albanese government that the HVO coal mine expansion, which still requires federal environmental approval, must be abandoned if Australia wants credibility as president of negotiations of the upcoming COP31 climate summit.
acynta Fa’amau, 350.org Campaigner said: “We are horrified. I joined thousands of others in submitting our objection to this carbon bomb, but our testimonies have fallen on deaf ears. It’s not just the Pacific that will suffer. The science has made it very clear that whether Australia burns its coal at home or overseas, the wildfires, floods and droughts will remain at their front door. The billions of dollars will sit with Glencore while the fallout will land on everyday people.”
Pacific leaders said that Australian coal expansion continues to undermine the scientific, legal and moral requirements to limit global warming. Earlier this month, Australia’s environmental protection agency also approved the 30-year extension of BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s Saraji coal mine.
Fenton Lutunatabua, 350.org Pacific & Caribbean Programme Manager, said: “We are days away from Pre-COP in Fiji, and Australia will unfortunately enter these discussions with an 800 million-tonne shadow over them. Every promise from Australia will be measured against their decisions to either lock us into decades of climate pollution, or shut down coal expansion once and for all. It’s not rocket science – you cannot come to the Pacific, witness the severity of our climate impacts, and go home and approve a giant coal mine. We will be watching very closely.”
