Climate Council tells of the terrors of Galilee Basin coal

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 new report from the Climate Council reveals that if all of the Galilee Basin coal was burned, an estimated 705 million tonnes of CO2 would be released each year – more than 1.3 times Australia's current annual emissions.

The Climate
Council report.

Tackling climate change effectively means that existing coal mines will need to be retired before they are exploited fully and new mines cannot be built.

Key findings in the report are:

-      Burning coal for electricity is one of the key drivers of climate change.

-      195 countries have agreed to limit temperature rise to no more than 2°C.

-      This puts a cap on how much coal the world can burn. Even under the most optimistic assumptions, only 12% of the world’s coal reserves can be burned.

-      Moving away from fossil fuels means that new energy sources, like solar and wind, must come online rapidly.

-      Any new coal mine is fundamentally at odds with protecting Australia from the impacts of climate change.

Read the report - “Galilee Basin - Unburnable Coal”