Climate warning

COP31 co-host approves coal mining until 2055

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Markus Lutteman

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Australian Government

Climate warning
Australia is preparing to co-host the UN climate conference COP31. It is also allowing a major coal mine to keep digging until 2055.
The country´s new National Environmental Protection Agency, established just a few months ago, confirmed to Guardian Australia it had approved the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) mine extension to extract another 55 million tonnes of coal over the coming decades.
The coal will be exported for steelmaking. According to the Climate Council, burning it could release around 120 million tonnes of CO₂ — equivalent to more than a quarter of Australia’s current annual emissions.
The project will also clear habitat for threatened species, including koalas, snakes and squatter pigeons.
The timing is hard to ignore.
Just days before the approval, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Pacific leaders — whose countries face an existential threat from rising seas — that the “entry fee for credibility” was “taking climate change seriously.”
That means keeping all new coal in the ground. Not allowing extraction for decades to come.
Saraji coalmine in Queensland will see digging continue to 2055. Photograph: Wikimedia/Lock the Gate Alliance

Saraji coalmine in Queensland will see digging continue to 2055. Photograph: Wikimedia/Lock the Gate Alliance




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