The decision of Suncorp to dump coal, just months after the re-election of the Morrison government, makes it clear that insurers can’t afford wishful thinking.
Adani’s request for the names of individual scientists reviewing their groundwater management plan has chilling implications for scientific independence.
Despite Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s veto of a loan to Adani, the company could still receive funds from a new government or via previous arrangements.
The proposed loan of Commonwealth money to Adani is on shaky constitutional ground, potentially paving the way for High Court challenge which could change the dynamics of federal-state funding.
The Carmichael coal mine requires a crucial native title agreement to build key infrastructure. But an Indigenous group is bringing legal action against Adani, which may create a fatal roadblock.
The board of Indian mining firm Adani has approved its A$16 billion Carmichael coal mine. But has the Queensland government failed in its duty to be responsible with publicly owned resources such as coal?
Matt Canavan tells The Conversation this mine is only one part of a plan for 'opening up the Galilee Basin' to provide investment opportunities, exports, and employment.
If the government were to provide loan insurance or loan guarantees, the banks might be more inclined to fund Adani. Taxpayers would then be at risk for the estimated $10 billion in project finance.
A new Climate Council report points out that the Paris Agreement’s carbon budget leaves no room for the development of massive new coal reserves such as the proposed Carmichael mine.
If infrastructure is to meet the needs and challenges of an uncertain future, we need to move beyond the AAA ratings mindset and aim for net-positive social and ecological outcomes as well.
The news last week that Australia’s oldest bank, Westpac, has withdrawn from any prospect of financing Adani’s Carmichael coal mine may well be the death knell for the controversial project. Westpac is…