An Adani claim that its Australian export program, whereby coal is sent through the Great Barrier Reef\u2019s shipping channels, is advancing the United Nations\u2019 sustainable development goals, has been denounced by leading scientists.<\/p>\n
Adani\u2019s Queensland<\/a> export site claims its operations \u201censure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all\u201d, which is one of the UN\u2019s 17 sustainable development goals.<\/p>\n Australia, along with other UN members, adopted the goals in 2015, designed to address global challenges including poverty, justice, environmental degradation and climate change.<\/p>\n The relevant UN goal is chiefly concerned with providing affordable and clean energy<\/a>, which it says requires a substantial increase in renewable energy.<\/p>\n Adani\u2019s North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT) near Bowen has the capacity to export 50m tonnes of coal a year. In its latest sustainability report, NQXT says it supports the UN goal by \u201cenabling the export of high-quality Australian coal to the world\u201d.<\/p>\n One of Australia\u2019s leading experts on the development goals, Prof John Thwaites, said the word \u201csustainable\u201d in the UN goal was key.<\/p>\n \u201cI would argue that to \u2018support the advancement of the sustainable development goals\u2019, energy and port operations need to support sustainable energy,\u201d said Thwaites, the chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute.<\/p>\n \u201cSimply exporting coal is not achieving or supporting the sustainability objective of the goals.\u201d<\/p>\n He said there were also numerous references in the UN goals for the need to take action on climate change, and that \u201csimply exporting coal which will be burned and produce greenhouse gas emissions overseas\u201d is not supportive of this.<\/p>\n Another leading expert on the UN agenda, Dr Cameron Allen, said the intention of the energy development goal was to \u201cfocus on sustainable energy and clean energy and I don\u2019t think fossil fuels or coal falls into that\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone would agree that it\u2019s in line with the aims of that goal,\u201d said Allen, from Monash University.<\/p>\n \u201cExporting coal isn\u2019t in line with the sentiment \u2026 or the language of the goal, which includes the word sustainable. The international climate change agreements also make it clear that burning fossil fuels is not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n Guardian Australia has been scrutinising various claims made by Adani after finding that its Carmichael coal operation has paid zero corporate tax in more than three years of operation, and may never do so<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Indian conglomerate had pledged to plough billions of dollars into the Australian economy through taxes and royalties when it was going through the contested approvals process to establish an open-cut coalmine in the Galilee Basin.<\/p>\n In response to questions about how its operations advance the UN sustainability goals, a spokesperson for Adani\u2019s Australian mining business, which is branded Bravus Mining and Resources, said coal exports helped combat poverty.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Clear Air Australia<\/p>\n Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cDeveloping nations in the Asia Pacific region use coal from the Carmichael mine alongside renewables to provide reliable and affordable energy solutions that help reduce poverty and power growth,\u201d the Bravus spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Adani\u2019s port facility website also says its operations align with a UN goal to protect terrestrial ecosystems by managing its water on-site next to neighbouring wetlands.<\/p>\n Traditional owners have raised concerns<\/a> over the threat posed by the coal operations to the nearby Caley Valley, in claims rejected by Adani.<\/p>\n In 2017 and 2019, flood waters were released from the port into the wetland<\/a>. In the 2017 incident, the Queensland government later found the water that turned areas of the wetlands black from coal dust had not caused a widespread impact<\/a>.<\/p>\n Adani\u2019s Carmichael mine, rail and port operation is among the most politically divisive projects in Australia, given it has opened up new fossil fuel reserves in a sensitive location at a time the country has pledged to transition to renewables.<\/p>\n Claire Snyder, director of watchdog group Climate Integrity, said the NQXT claim amounted to aggressive greenwashing.<\/p>\n \u201cFraming coal exports as a contribution to sustainable development undermines global climate goals, misleads the public, and uses the authority of the UN to legitimise ongoing harm,\u201d Snyder said.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven what we know about coal\u2019s role in driving climate breakdown, this is wilful disinformation and meaningless sustainability waffle to protect the social licence of coal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Adani claim that its Australian export program, whereby coal is sent through the Great Barrier Reef\u2019s shipping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-44105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}