Australia: Australia has blocked the construction of a coal mine in order to protect the Great Barrier Reef. The government rejected a proposal for a new mine about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from the world’s largest coral reef system.

According to Environment Minister Ms. Tanya Plibersek, the project poses an unacceptable risk to the world heritage area, which is already highly vulnerable.

Mr. Clive Palmer, an Australian billionaire who owns the mine, has not yet responded to the rejection.

Mr. Palmer’s firm, Central Queensland Coal, proposed to build an open-cut mine about 700 kilometres north-west of Brisbane that would produce both thermal and coking coal as well as operate for about 20 years.

In 2022, Ms. Plibersek had flagged that the federal government might block the mine. After opening it to public consideration, the Environment Department received more than 9,000 submissions in 10 days, with the majority calling for the project to be stopped.

The Queensland state government had recommended their federal counterparts reject the proposal in 2022, stating the project had “significant” environmental risks.

The request was granted by Minister Plibersek, who determined that sediment and runoff from the open-cut mine were likely to harm the reef and local water resources.

“I’ve decided that the adverse environmental impacts are simply too great,” the minister shared in a video statement.

The country’s Labor government has been under pressure from some quarters to block any future coal and gas mining projects.

Australia is a major global supplier of fossil fuels. Despite having only 0.3 percent of the world’s population, the region accounts for 3.6 percent of global emissions.

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