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In an unprecedented decision, the Australian Government rejected a mega-project to build a coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef, in the northeast of the country. The decision responds to the objectives of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which included fighting climate change and protecting the environment.
The Australian Government maintains that the mining project would bring “irreversible” damage to the ecosystem. Authorities estimate that the mine would dump a large amount of sediment into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef, located near the town of Rockhampton, in the northeastern state of Queensland.
And it is that the project, recently rejected, included the construction of two open-cast mines that would operate for 20 years and annually exploit some 10 million tons of coal. Anthony Albanese’s Labor government immediately warned that mining operations would endanger groundwater, streams and seagrass beds, as well as ecosystem animals.
“The negative repercussions for the environment are too great. The mine is in the open pit, less than ten kilometers from the Great Barrier Reef, and the risk of contamination and irreversible damage is very real,” the Minister of the Environment said today. and Water, said Tanya Plibersek, in a video posted on her social networks.
Australian environmental law
The rejection of the mining megaproject marks the first time that the Government has relied on the law created in 1999, which provides that anyone responsible for a fossil fuel project must submit additional information to the holder of the Environment portfolio, exposed to approval. or rejected.
“Never before has the Australian government turned down a coal mine following a federal government assessment and it should be the first step in turning down new fossil fuel projects,” Cherry Muddle, representative of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said in a statement.
In the case of this mine, the majority of the 9,000 documents presented in 10 days were opposed to the project.
Since 2016, the Great Barrier Reef has been damaged by at least four massive coral bleaching events caused by events related to the global climate crisis. Damage that put this area at risk of being listed as a World Heritage Site in danger.
With the Albanese coming to power, in 2022, the country’s climate policy has reversed considerably, trying to get out of the ranking of the largest polluters per capita on the planet.
And while the country’s economy is heavily dependent on coal exports, the new government has promised to reduce CO2 emissions to 43% by the end of the decade, surpassing its previous target of 28%. A measure that is added to its objectives of achieving emission neutrality by 2050.
With EFE and local media
