Galilee basin coal must be left in ground as a ‘priority’ – new report

A coalmine in the Galilee basin in central
Queensland. A new report shows that existing
fossil fuel projects worldwide are enough
to push global warming beyond 2C.

Miners seeking the green light to dig up Queensland’s Galilee basin should be stopped as a priority, according to a new report showing existing fossil fuels projects worldwide are enough to push global warming beyond 2C.

The report by the research and advocacy group Oil Change International argues there is a compelling case for the six Galilee coalmining proposals in the hands of Australian regulators to be axed in line with a “managed decline” of global coal, oil and gas supplies already on tap.

It shows the embedded carbon emissions from operating fields and mines worldwide, if run to the end of their projected lifetimes, would drive warming beyond the 2C limit laid down by last year’s Paris agreement. Developed oil and gas reserves alone would take warming beyond the aspirational 1.5C target.

Read The Guardian story - “Galilee basin coal must be left in ground as a ‘priority’ – new report.”