Great news for the coral paradise that is also known as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia!
Support for the building of an enormous coal mine right next to the reef diminishes quickly since the Australian CommBank retracted her financial support.
We are one step closer to definitive protection of this beautiful coral reef.
The Australian government announced the development of a huge coal mine that will support humanity last year. The coal should have been shipped to India because the Australian government supported the right of the Indian population to energy. To realise these plans, a rail road was to be laid and a harbour dredged. The sediment from the dredging activities was to be dumped close to the GBR. The total investment costs were 11 billion euro. Minor detail: India did not want the coal. The country believes they have enough pollution and wants to develop sustainable energy sources.
Many scientists, ngo’s and diving organizations are opposed to the plans. They believe dumping the sediment so close to the reef will cause tremendous negative effects on corals and other organisms. Even Unesco claimed they would closely monitor the development of the GBR since this reef is a World heritage. Decreasing reef cover will have direct impacts on the tourism industry, because less reef means less tourists. An estimated 85% of the Australians opposes these mines and coal.
Yakka skink
Now a judge ruled against the continuation of this project. Not because of danger for the reef, but because two other protected species will be endangered. These two species were overlooked in the intitial permit requests. The species are the secretive Yakka skink and the small, vulnerable Ornamental snake. Our thanks goes to them.
Ornamental snake
We would like to advise the following: invest those billions not in coal but in sustainable energy sources. That will benefit many more people. According to 97% of the climate scientists coal and climate change are not a good couple. But hey, the billions of dollars ogle and the investors are still not willing to stow their plans away. In other words:
To be continued.
You can also find this article on my website.
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