Queensland’s coal belt unsure of repercussions as world discusses fossil fuel phase-out in Glasgow climate talks.
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While the biggest names in world politics shake hands and make calls on the future of global emissions next week, in Queensland’s coal belt life will quietly continue.
Dinner is going on the table, small businesses are reconciling the books and the first coffees of a night shift are being brewed.
World leaders will meet in Glasgow for the most ambitious climate talks since 2015, with an agenda that includes securing global targets to reach net zero emissions, which would involve investment in renewables and accelerating the “phase-out” of coal.
Australia is the world’s largest exporter of metallurgical coal (used in steelmaking) and second-largest exporter of thermal coal (used for electricity generation) and prices for both have surged recently amid global energy demand and supply issues.
Using data supplied by its members, the Queensland Resources Council has calculated that the coal industry provides more than 32,000 full-time jobs directly and indirectly supports an estimated 270,000 jobs.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) forecast last month that if China, Japan and South Korea stick to their stated targets to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, it could mean Australia’s coal exports decline significantly by 2050.
The RBA does predict a lower risk for metallurgical coal producers because of the strong global demand for its use in steelmaking until greener alternatives are more widespread.
The central Queensland town of Moura, a few hours’ drive south-west of Rockhampton, is home to the Dawson Mine — an open-cut metallurgical coal mine that also produces some thermal coal as a by-product.
Originally this tiny town was a farming community and agriculture still plays a large role — as does gas and a local ammonium nitrate facility — but the mine, now a joint venture between Anglo American and Mitsui Holdings, is one of the state’s longest-running operations, having been established in 1961.
In Moura’s main street stands a sombre memorial for 36 people killed in underground mining disasters in 1975, 1986 and 1994.
Underground operations ceased after the final disaster, but today the mine still employs more than 1,300 people, including a large portion of residents in Moura and the surrounding Banana Shire.
Moura is on the southern end of the Bowen Basin, a major coal-producing region that spreads from the Banana Shire, which includes Moura, to the Central Highlands, Isaac region and the Whitsunday coast.
A lot of the coal from this region is exported through the multi-commodity port at Gladstone.
The industrial city has its eyes on new, greener industries — with big investments in green hydrogen planned by mining magnate Andrew Forrest, as well as several Japanese conglomerates — one in partnership with a state-owned energy generator.
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