Climate & Capital Media’s Post

"If the country gets it right, Australia could go beyond digging and shipping to refining onshore and building whole new sectors that would add value for the nation’s post-fossil fuels economy." In her latest Climate & Capital Media Newsletter, Blair Palese discusses the politics around Australia's climate future. https://lnkd.in/dYevtmTY Climate & Capital Media Climate Group Anthony Albanese,  Arafura Rare Earths Limited Hyundai Motor Company (현대자동차), Hyundai Motor Company Australia Siemens Siemens Gamesa Siemens Energy GE Aerospace,  Liontown Resources Limited, Gina Rinehart, Hancock Prospecting BHP BlueScope BlueScope Steel Africa & Indian Ocean Islands LinkedIn News Australia Crikey KPMG KPMG Australia Australia Post #climate #climatechange #climateinvesting #climatefinance #climateeconomy #esg #esginvesting #esginvestment #esgfinance #esgdata #esgreport #australia #mining #minerals #steel #metals

Breaking 🚨 Last month, the court agreed with Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change that the lifetime emissions of a proposed coal mine in Whitehaven (mostly from burning coal) weren't properly considered, and its approval was unlawful. With the deadline to appeal having now passed, it's now up to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to reconsider the original planning application by West Cumbria Mining – unless the company decides to abandon its plans by withdrawing it. The government must ensure that West Cumbria, and areas like it, are at the forefront of the transition to a green economy to get the jobs and investment that is urgently required. That's why we're calling on Keir Starmer to create a new Big Climate Plan that delivers a greener and fairer future for the UK. Add your name today ✍ https://lnkd.in/eeS-vECU https://lnkd.in/e_tzder8

Not in Alberta — Coal Still King & Queen in the Alberta Tarsands Tarnation, Eh?⚠️🔥⛔️💨⚠️ The Washington Post: The USA just took its biggest step yet to end coal mining. The Biden administration’s decision ends new leasing in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, the nation’s biggest coal-producing region. By Maxine Joselow: 
The Biden administration’s decision ends new leasing in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, the nation’s biggest coal-producing region.

Image: The Eagle Butte Coal Mine, part of the Powder River Basin, in Gillette, Wyo., on Nov. 12, 2021. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

In one of its biggest steps yet to keep fossil fuels in the ground, the Biden administration announced Thursday that it will end new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, which produces nearly half the coal in the United States. 
Climate activists have long pushed the Interior Department to stop auctioning off leases for coal mining on public lands, and they celebrated the decision. It could prevent billions of tons of coal from being extracted from more than 13 million acres across Montana and Wyoming, with major implications for U.S. climate goals. 
A significant share of the nation’s fossil fuels come from federal lands and waters. The extraction and combustion of these fuels accounted for nearly a quarter of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions between 2005 & 2014, according to a study by the USA Geological Survey. 
In a final environmental impact statement released Thursday, Interior’s Bureau of Land Management found that continued coal leasing in the Powder River Basin would harm the climate and public health. The bureau determined that no future coal leasing should happen in the basin, and it estimated that coal mining in the Wyoming portion of the region would end by 2041. https://lnkd.in/gXpDmkzM

Earlier this week, our CEO Tony Chappel had the opportunity to engage with NSW Mining members, experts and government leaders. The 2024 New South Wales Mining Health, Safety, Environment & Community Conference was an excellent platform to share our advancements with the EPA's Climate Change Policy and Action Plan. It also enabled meaningful interactions with key leaders and businesses navigating the net-zero transition in the mining industry. Our ongoing engagement in the climate change and mining sector is extensive. Recently, we surveyed over 2,000 license holders to better understand their emissions sources, current climate actions, and resilience challenges. We also discussed the formation of the EPA Climate Change Mining Advisory Group and the public consultation on our draft Climate Change Assessment Requirements and Guide for large emitters, covering offsets and transitional measures. The journey to net-zero presents both opportunities and challenges for NSW's mining sector. By fostering open dialogue and collaboration, we aim to drive long-term changes that ensure a prosperous and sustainable future for all. #hsec2024 NSW Minerals Council

Bear defecates in wood, scientists discover. In an announcement that will surprise precisely no one (and certainly no one even remotely familiar with Thatcherism and the 1984/5 coal mine strikes), "coal mining in the United Kingdom does not have a long-term future". Continuing the habit of legislating for the unnecessary, the Govt will introduce legislation to ban new UK coalmines (a position already secured by the High Court). We've been here before: the last Govt - equally adept at surfing a market inevitably to burnish its deep-green credentials (usually COP-related) - bravely announced legislation to end coal-fired power, 'coincidentally' tied in to the existing closure date of the last operational plant. Rather than staking a flag on trends that are inevitable, Gov't policy should be used to correct and facilitate, or else risk undermining the decarbonisation message. "Virtue? A fig!". https://lnkd.in/euY2r2zv

The proposed 25 year extension of Glencore and Yancoal's Hunter Valley Operations coal mine is the biggest coal mining project ever assessed in NSW. It will create 29 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution in NSW and 1 billion tonnes globally. It is clearly, unequivocally, incompatible with Australia and NSW's commitment to pursuing efforts to prevent global warming above 1.5 degrees but the lag in state and national law and regulation means we still have to campaign to stop it. The Hunter Valley needs certainty, investment and support. Australia needs a stable climate. This project torpedoes both of those things. https://lnkd.in/gWaAiZMe

Deposits of designated critical minerals needed to transition the world's energy systems away from fossil fuels may, ironically enough, be co-located with coal deposits that have been mined to produce the fossil fuel most implicated in climate change.

Good ABC article from Daniel Mercer with sage input from Saul Kavonic and Tim Buckley. From a WA energy transition and emissions reduction perspective a takeover of Woodside and a move elsewhere would reduce their influence on WA State politics and help remove some of the persistent systemic barriers to the clean energy transition. New owners would cast a critical cold eye and capital stewardship approach over Browse. They may decide Browse was too far, too dirty and too much in an uncertain LNG market - a larger acquiring company would have much lower cost, lower risk, higher value LNG options on their books. Market consolidation in a mature industry in the decline phase is the norm. Tim's closing remarks are spot on "Therefore, by moving to America you move with the other dinosaurs and prolong your life for another 10 years" https://lnkd.in/gp4Yjhrg

Deposits of designated critical minerals needed to transition the world’s energy systems away from fossil fuels may, ironically enough, be co-located with coal deposits that have been mined to produce the fossil fuel most implicated in climate change.

Deposits of designated critical minerals needed to transition the world's energy systems away from fossil fuels may, ironically enough, be co-located with coal deposits that have been mined to produce the fossil fuel most implicated in climate change.