German engineering giant Siemens
will decide by Monday on its involvement in the controversial Carmichael coal
mine being built in Australia by India’s Adani, chief executive, Joe Kaeser,
said on Friday.
Climate
activists and mine opponents
are asking the company not to provide a key piece of rail infrastructure to transport
coal from the mine, in Queensland, to ports.
“While we understand why people focus on this one project, we follow a broader approach in order to fight climate change and supply people around the world with affordable and reliable electricity,” Siemens said in a statement announcing the deal on Dec. 11.
The firm, however, yielded to
pressure, delaying a final decision on its part on the 20 million euros ($22m) contract
to provide a rail signalling system for the project to next week.
Speaking after meeting climate activist Luisa Neubauer in Berlin, Kaeser told journalists he had offered her a seat on the supervisory board of the group’s new Siemens Energy division, Reuters reported. Neubauer did not join the news conference.
Organized groups have called for
demonstrations at Siemens sites across Germany on Friday, arguing
that while Siemens “promises in Germany to take responsibility for
the climate and become carbon-neutral by 2030, [it supports] a backward-looking
project in Australia, as well as the destruction of our planet and our future.”
The Carmichael mine, expected to
produce 8-10 million tonnes of thermal coal a year, was approved by the state
government in
June 2019 after a near decade-long struggle with regulators and
environmental protesters.
According to official estimations,
Carmichael will contribute $2.97 billion each year to Queensland’s economy and
will create 1,500 direct and 6,750 indirect jobs during ramp up and
construction.
Thermal coal is one of the largest
sources of greenhouse gas emissions. If burnt, output from Carmichael would
release 700m tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year for more
than 50 years.
Several projects are seen following in the Galilee if Adani builds infrastructure to connect it to the state’s rail network.
More to come…