Conservation Action Trust challenges approval of Australia’s largest coal mine, whose coal would be burned in India

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

An Indian conservation group is to raise objections in court to the creation of the largest coal mine in Australia, in what is thought to be the first such challenge mounted by overseas activists.

The Conservation Action Trust (CAT) will challenge the approval of the enormous Carmichael mine in the land court of Queensland. A directions hearing will take place in Brisbane on Thursday.

The $16.5bn project, overseen by Indian mining company Adani, will dig up and transport about 60m tonnes of coal a year for export.

The mine, located in central Queensland, will be 60km long, and will span an area seven times the size of Sydney harbour, making it the largest coal mine in Australia and possibly the world.

The trust said the mine was not in the public interest and not ecologically sustainable. Coal from the mine will be burned in India, potentially providing electricity for people who do not have it, but also causing a significant surge in carbon emissions.

Debi Goenka, an executive trustee of the CAT, said: “The coal from Carmichael, when burnt in India, threatens the health and livelihoods of poor, rural people in India.

“These people can’t afford the electricity that will be generated – all they’ll get will be damage to their health and the air, water, land and natural resource base on which their survival depends.”

Adani’s founder and chairman, Gautam Adani, has been accused of violating workers’ rights in India, including having lax safety standards that exposed them to cholera, and the company has been accused of presiding over a series of breaches of environmental conditions attached to one of its projects in the country.

The Carmichael mine has received state and federal backing, with the federal environmental minister, Greg Hunt, signing off on the project in July.

Hunt subsequently lambasted green groups that criticised the project’s impact on groundwater levels and the associated coal export terminal development at Abbot Point, which sits next to the Great Barrier Reef.

Brendan Sydes, the chief executive of Environmental Justice Australia, which is representing the CAT, said: “This demonstrates that the mine isn’t a local concern around its footprint. There is a broader climate change impact and that’s why this Indian NGO is wanting to get involved.”

The huge mine is also facing a separate challenge from community group the Coast and Country Association of Queensland, which objects to the mining of the coal-rich Galilee Basin area of central Queensland.

Coast and Country says the mine will drop water table levels by up to 50 metres and destroy valuable ecosystems.

Derec Davies, spokesman for Coast and Country, said the court challenge was supported by a “large majority of the community”.

“The site is one of two remaining places where the endangered black-throated finch is found,” he said. “If this mine proceeds, the black-throated finch may be pushed to the brink of extinction.”

“The regionally significant Bygana West nature refuge will be also totally destroyed if this mine goes ahead. This will be the first Queensland nature refuge to be approved for destruction.

“Indian corporation Adani is seeking to extract profit from dirty coal at a time when action to reduce carbon emissions is critical. Profits of this mine will go overseas, while we are left with a permanent legacy of destruction of our irreplaceable natural assets.”

An Adani spokesman would not comment directly on the legal proceedings. It is expected a court date will be set for the CAT’s action early next year.