Australia vows to sell coal for 'decades into the future' despite climate warning
A coal mine in Australia
Days after rejecting an agreement to phase out use of coal at the COP 26 climate summit, Australia on Monday asserted that it plans to sell coal for “decades into the future”.
During the COP 26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, over 40 countries on Thursday pledged to eliminate coal use within decades to keep the average surface temperature of the Earth between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Major coal consumers such as China, the United States and Australia did not sign up.
“We have said very clearly we are not closing coal mines and we are not closing coal-fired power stations,” Australian Minister for Resources Keith Pitt told Australian broadcaster ABC.
Defending Australia’s decision, Pitt said Australia had some of the world's highest quality coal.
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“And that is why we will continue to have markets for decades into the future. And if they're buying... well, we are selling,” he said.
The minister claimed that demand for coal is expected to rise until 2030, adding, “If we aren’t to win that market, somebody else will.
Pitt said that around 300,000 Australians' jobs were reliant on the coal sector.
“I would much rather it be Australia's high-quality product, delivering Australian jobs and building Australia's economy than coming from Indonesia or Russia or elsewhere.”
Australia is one of the world's largest producers of coal and natural gas, but has also suffered under increasingly extreme climate-fuelled droughts, floods and bushfires in recent years.
Greenhouse emissions from the burning of coal are the largest contributor toclimate change.
It is widely used because it is cheap and abundant in local supply. Wealthy countries have invested heavily to shift their industries and energy sectors onto cleaner sources.
In 2019, 37 per cent of the world's electricity was produced by coal. Although the global pipeline for new coal power projects has shrivelled in recent years.
(With inputs from agencies)