The Queensland Government has approved mining giant BHP’s proposed Saraji East coal mine in the Bowen Basin, despite finding the company had failed to adequately explain how it would reduce the project’s climate impacts.
To be located 170km south-west of Mackay, the Saraji East coal mine would produce an estimated 110 million tonnes of coal and operate until 2045. It would generate more than 330 million tonnes of climate pollution in its lifetime, and drain 8.8 billion litres of groundwater.
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BHP plans to clear 1,160ha of koala habitat and 748ha of greater glider habitat even though the mine site is home to a significant population of endangered greater gliders.
In its environment assessment of the project late last year, the Queensland government called BHP’s greenhouse gas abatement plan for Saraji East a “broad-brush corporate-level plan fail[ing] to sufficiently detail project emissions and abatement measures”.
Lock the Gate Alliance Queensland coordinator Maggie McKeown said, “It’s extraordinary that the Queensland government has approved this coal mine after finding that BHP’s plan to address greenhouse gas emissions at the mine is inadequate.
“Saraji East would be a disaster for Queenslanders. It would drain and potentially pollute our precious water resources and destroy koala and glider habitat, and generate 330 million tonnes of climate pollution.
“The climate impacts would contribute to the worsening droughts, extreme heat, fires, and storms that our communities across Queensland are already grappling with.”
“BHP has the most cumulative historical emissions of any Australian company, making it the biggest Australian polluter in history. Pressing ahead with this mega coal mine with a sloppy climate plan exposes a massive gap between the company’s climate commitments and actions.”
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The approval follows BHP’s public claims that it would stop investing in Queensland coal due to the current coal royalty settings.
