Press release – 11 July, 2017July 12, 2017: The Queensland government’s plan to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050 will do nothing to protect the Great Barrier Reef or the country from climate change if Australia does not reduce coal exports.Yesterday the state government in Queensland announced a plan to join NSW, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT in setting a net zero emissions target.
“It is heartening to see Queensland joining other state governments in setting a target of zero emissions by 2050 and stepping up while the federal government does nothing,” Greenpeace Campaigner Alix Foster Vander Elst said.
“But if we do not reduce our exports of fossil fuels, primarily coal, this is only a half-measure and will do nothing to combat climate change and protect natural treasures like the Great Barrier Reef.
“Australia produces nearly twice as much carbon dioxide emissions through the coal we export than we emit domestically.[1]”
Ms Foster Vander Elst said it was two-faced to outline emissions targets at a time when the state government was pushing the largest coal mine Australia has ever seen.
“If mining in the Galilee basin goes ahead emissions from Australia’s coal exports will double [2],” she said.
“Worse than this, the federal government is considering giving a billion dollars of public money to the project to help it along.
“The choice is clear for Queensland – we can have coal or we can have the Great Barrier Reef, not both.”
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
[1]
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/Global/australia/reports/Exporting%20climate%20change,%20killing%20the%20reef.pdf
[2] https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/5cb72fc98342cfc149832293a8901466.pdf
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