Glencore’s withdrawal of its huge Valeria coal project in Central Queensland is another sign that there is no future for new thermal coal mines as the world moves urgently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Coal from the project would have been responsible for well over a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, which would have turbocharged climate change and the extreme weather that comes with it.
The 20 million tonne per annum project would have also carved up 10,000 ha of land just north of Emerald to make way for six giant coal pits, rail lines, and water and power infrastructure. It would have cleared large areas of important koala habitat and damaged wetlands and waterways.
Environmental Advocacy in Central Queensland director Dr Coral Rowston said, “This is terrific news for the local CQ community, as well as the koalas, forests and wetlands that would have been destroyed.
“It is great that a large company such as Glencore is aware of the importance of getting to net zero emissions by 2050 and weighed up the triple-bottom line of social, environmental and economic consequences.
“We know that the world is going to move away from coal at some stage and this was a huge mine with significant start-up costs. Glencore’s shareholders have made a sound decision which must be applauded.
“Every new coal mine is just going to add to our carbon dioxide emissions and our methane emissions, and we will start losing some of our natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef and our precious koalas and greater gliders.
“This was one of the proposals that the federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek had agreed to reconsider because of the potential impacts of climate change to matters of environmental significance.
“We are hoping this is a really good signal to other coal operations that opening new mines is going to be really challenging if we are going to meet Australia’s and Queensland’s emissions targets, said Dr Rowston.”
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