Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek today gave approval to three new coal mine projects: Boggabri, Caval Ridge and Lake Vermont Meadowbrook. The three new coal mine extensions will produce more than 880 million tonnes of carbon emissions over their lifetime, close to two times Australia’s domestic emissions from all sources in 2023 (465.9 million tonnes). This will worsen climate change and extreme weather events globally and in Australia, including extreme heat, floods, intensification of cyclones and droughts.

There are currently 36 coal mining projects and 6 gas projects currently awaiting decision on Minister Plibersek’s desk under Australia’s environment laws. Three projects have just been approved by Tanya Plibersek, the Environment Minister.

The Albanese government has refused ‘reconsideration requests’ for these three coal mines, Boggabri, Caval Ridge and Lake Vermont Meadowbrook, ignoring climate change. The requests were made by the Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) represented by lawyers from Environmental Justice Australia as part of the Living Wonders legal intervention. ECoCeQ asked the Albanese government to reconsider the assessment of the coal mines, to assess their climate harm and how the climate pollution they would create will impact Australia’s environment and threatened species.

Together, the three mine extensions just approved by the Albanese government will add more than 880 million tonnes of carbon emissions to the atmosphere, close to double Australia’s total annual domestic emissions in 2023. The vast majority of the pollution from these mines will be emitted when the coal is exported and burnt overseas and, as such, is ignored by the Australian Government and not taken into account in decision-making.

A fourth project is Vulcan South, which is also close to an approval decision but under criminal investigation for illegal clearing and mining. It’s likely a decision on this mine will be made in the near future. 

Here is why these decisions are so bad:

1. This decision denies climate science. The Albanese Government’s new coal mines will emit 880 million tonnes of carbon pollution, close to double Australia’s total annual emissions. The vast majority of the pollution from these mines will be emitted when the coal is exported and burnt overseas: these emissions are ignored by the Australian Government and not considered in decision making.
   
   a) Scientists say new coal and gas must be stopped to protect Australians from dangerous climate change. Pacific leaders are demanding Australia stop approving new coal and gas to give their islands a fighting chance.
   
   b) Coal is the leading cause of global climate change and Australia’s emissions are not going down. The Albanese Government’s approval of three new coal mines is an absolute disaster for Australia’s climate and environment. 
   
   c) The International Energy Agency has warned that not a single new coal mine can be approved if we are to limit the worst impacts of dangerous climate change. 
   
   d) The Albanese Government has now approved 11 new coal mining projects, 17 new gas and 3 new oil projects since taking office – and there are 42 coal and gas projects currently awaiting decision.
   
2. 2024 has been Earth’s hottest year on record. The impacts of climate change are here and have been devastating communities all over the world. We have the solutions and the tools needed to prevent the worst climate impacts and secure a safe future. But we need the political will. Despite the Australian government’s failure to take real climate action, we won’t give up. We will continue to stand up for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis and demand action from the Albanese government, too much is at stake not to act. 

3. Australians are facing a climate-fuelled cost of living crisis and the Albanese Government’s new coal approvals will make it worse. The Albanese Government’s new coal mine approvals will cause more intense bushfires and more powerful floods, driving up the cost of food and insurance. The Labor and Liberal parties need to stop handing out billions of public funds to billionaire coal and gas companies and start standing up for everyday Australians facing cost of living pressures.

4. This is a cowardly decision by the Albanese Government who is protecting the profits of coal billionaires and polluters instead of taking real climate action to protect our communities from worsening fires, floods, and extreme weather. Prime Minister Albanese claims to be committed to climate action, but his government is in climate change denial. 

5. Anthony Albanese is signing a death sentence for Pacific islands with every new coal mine his government approves. Pacific leaders have loudly and repeatedly called for Australia to do what’s necessary to save their islands, and stop approving new coal and gas projects.  Each year, the emissions of these coal projects will contribute more than 2.5 times the combined emissions from all 14 Pacific Island nations in one year. Every new coal mine approval is a brutal betrayal of the Pacific Islands that undermines Australia’s credibility on climate change. Australia does not deserve to host the upcoming COP31 climate change conference in partnership with Pacific Island states unless it starts acting like a true partner on climate action by rejecting new coal mines.

6. Anthony Albanese’s Labor Government was elected with a mandate to act on climate after 10 years of denial and delay. Approving new coal mines is the opposite of climate action. The Labor Party risks angering millions of voters by failing to stand up to the billionaire coal companies making the climate and cost of living crises worse. The Labor Party is failing to show it’s different to the climate-denying Dutton opposition because approving coal mines is an act of climate denial itself.
   1. Every new coal and gas project that is approved by the Albanese undermines any progress being made on renewable energy. Emissions from Australia’s coal and gas exports are three times greater than our domestic emissions, the Albanese government’s climate policy isn’t credible while it ignores these emissions and expands coal and gas mining.

7. The Albanese Government’s approval of three more coal mines highlights why Australia’s environment laws are stuck in climate change denial and failing to protect Australian communities and the environment. Australia’s environment laws need urgent fixing so they can stop new coal mines digging climate wrecking coal. Australia’s environment laws are destroying not protecting our environment.
   1. The Albanese Government refused to consider the climate impacts of these massive coal projects, and is refusing to fix Australia’s environment laws to consider climate change and protect nature. 
   2. Every new coal and gas approval is a deliberate decision to harm people today and in the future. The world’s scientists and the International Energy Agency say to keep global heating to safer levels there can be no new coal and gas.

8. The Albanese Government pledged ‘no new extinctions’ but is approving new coal mines that will clear critically important habitat for endangered koalas and critically endangered Swift parrots. The only way to stop the extinction of our endangered wildlife is to stop destroying their habitat. The Albanese government’s approval of these mines is a global embarrassment.
   
9. Approving new coal mines is an act of climate denial that puts our communities at risk. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said there can be no new or expanded coal mines, including metallurgical coal, in order to achieve the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming to 1.5’C. Furthermore, the IEA says existing sources of metallurgical coal production “are sufficient to cover demand through to 2050.” (Page 103 of the IEA NZ2050 report ).

Outrage from Pacific civil society:

Teresa Lifuka-Drecala, President of the National Tuvalu Women’s Council: “To endorse three new coal mine extensions is defeating the “fale pili, mata vuvale”, so-called family concept that the Australian Government has been trying to establish with Pacific Island nations. This “family union” is often showcased at the global level when in fact the Australian Government fails miserably at having our best interests at heart, saving our lands and protecting Oceania.”

Miriam Moriati, President of Kiribati RotorAct Youth: “It is completely unethical for the Australian government to make decisions that further contribute to climate change without taking into account the impacts of these decisions on those who are at the forefront of climate change both within Australia and neighbouring Pacific islands. It shows that they are not serious about fighting climate change – the one thing that we Pacific Islanders have been fighting and advocating for. What about the friendship with us which the Australian government talks about in the media?”

Aselu O’Brien, land surveyor and member of Tuvalu Climate Warriors: “For us in the Pacific, Moana’s words – Nalo wants to end our story; we’re not letting that happen – resonate deeply. Approving new coal mines is a direct threat to our homelands, where rising seas are already swallowing our shores and displacing our people. These decisions feel like an erasure of our future—a choice to prioritize profit over the survival of cultures, lands, and communities that have existed for generations.  We are calling on Australia to stop approving new coal mines and stand with the Pacific, not against us. Our story is not over, and we will continue to fight for our lands, our people, and the generations to come.”

Anna Teruabine Nuariki, board member of the Tungaru Climate Alliance, Kiribati: “It is heartbreaking to know that Australia, as a big sister whom we rely on to fight and promote our voices, makes decisions that are directly against our best interests. This is an unethical and selfish decision that will have great impact on our lives and those of our future generations.”

Edmund Rice Centre Director ‘Alopi Latukefu:

‘Our responsibility to the Pacific if we are part of the family is to protect and make decisions in the interests of all the family and not just ourselves. When someone is putting themselves first and not looking after their family they are said to be Siokita (or selfish).  With this decision Australia has shown itself to be exactly that.”

Read more reaction: “A death sentence for our islands” – Pacific leaders respond to coal mine approval (Fossil Fuel Treaty)

Read reaction from Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF)

Climate Action Merribek protested the imminent approval of these mines outside Peter Khalil’s Coburg office on December 9, along with actions in other states.

References:

Graham Readfearn, The Guardian, 19 December 2024, Albanese government approves four coalmine expansions as Greens condemn ‘despicable’ move, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/19/albanese-government-coalmine-expansions-approved-boggabri-caval-ridge-horse-pit-lake-vermont-meadowbrook-vulcan-south