The Queensland Land Court will be hearing the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and Mackay Conservation Group’s (MCG) application seeking to stop Whitehaven Coal’s (ASX:WHC) Winchester South coal mine proposed for the Bowen Basin in Queensland.
Both environmental groups intend to argue the court should recommend no mining lease or environmental authority be granted for Winchester South – Australia’s largest proposed new coal project – due to the environmental and human rights impacts.
At Winchester South, Whitehaven Coal intends to dig six mine pits to extract up to 17 million tonnes of thermal and metallurgical coal per year for 28 years.
According to ACF and MCG, this activity will generate at least 583 million tonnes of climate pollution – which is more than the entire annual emissions of Australia.
The environmental groups say it will also release “huge volumes” of methane into the air, adding to the “already severely underreported methane pollution coming from the Bowen Basin”.
In Australia, the Bowen Basin contains the largest coal reserves, extending for over 60,000km2 in Central Queensland.
In 2015, the Department of Natural Resources and Mines reported that the Bowen Basin contained 42 operational coal mines which extracted more than 150 million tonnes per year.
Earlier this year, a study published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters revealed that methane emissions from an open-cut coal mine in the Bowen Basin were up to eight times higher than the operator’s reported annual average for FY2023.
Methane is a gas more than 80 times more damaging to the climate over 20 years than carbon dioxide, as reported by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney.
ACF legal counsel Adam Beeson says if the Winchester South mine goes ahead, it would produce more climate pollution than every source in Australia does each year.
“Although the Winchester coal would be burnt overseas, it would supercharge bushfires, heatwaves, coral bleaching, and other extreme weather events here at home,” Beeson says.
“Approving a mine to produce coal that will be burnt beyond 2050 is completely reckless when the world needs to cut emissions quickly.”
MCG climate campaigner Imogen Lindenberg says the world needs to cut climate pollutants as fast as possible to avoid the “worst-case” climate scenarios.
“It’s time for a serious plan to help the Central Queensland region transition away from coal. We deserve good jobs, strong communities, and a safe climate.”
Both groups will be represented in court by the Environmental Defenders Office today (21 July) at 9am AEST in Brisbane.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Whitehaven Coal
