Sydney, December 12, 2017: Adani’s proposed Carmichael mine has been listed as number 5 in a global compilation of the “Dirty Dozen” projects that put the goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees under threat and undermine the One Planet Summit that opens in Paris overnight our time.
The Dirty Dozen report comes as Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk was sworn in today and as promised, made her first act as returning Premier to veto the NAIF loan for the Adani Carmichael mine.
“Stopping the NAIF loan is one hurdle cleared, but the campaign to stop Adani does not end here,” said Glen Klatovsky, deputy CEO of 350.org Australia. “We won’t stop until this project is off the table.”
Globally, civil society groups including 350.org have come together under the Big Shift Global campaign to underscore the massive finance gap remaining to shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, in line with the aim of the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit warming to below 1.5°C.
The briefing “Dirty Dozen: How Public Finance Drives the Climate Crisis through Oil, Gas, and Coal Expansion”, highlights fossil fuel projects supported by the World Bank Group, other multilateral and national development banks and export credit agencies. These projects are examples that demonstrate how public finance is still acting as a critical lifeline for destructive fossil fuel projects, many of which could not otherwise be built, and how this support continues to this day, a full year after the Paris Agreement entered into force.
The World Bank Group – International Financial Corporation has provided $1.18 billion to Adani Power through loans, bonds and share issues.
“350 Australia congratulates Anastasia Palaszczuk for listening to the people of Australia, and following through with her commitment to veto the NAIF loan,” said Klatovsky.
“The fact that our federal government is still desperately intent on giving public money to this environmentally disastrous project demonstrates how tone deaf they are to the concerns of Australian public, and how little they care about the climate.”
The Dirty Dozen briefing presents a wide spectrum of dirty projects, ranging from the Adani project to the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project running from Azerbaijan to Italy (the European Investment Bank will consider a proposed 1.5 billion EUR loan for the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the final leg of the SGC, at its 11-12 December board meeting), to the 1,000-MW Cirebon 2 coal plant in Indonesia. The World Bank Group, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Development Bank, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank together have offered $8.07 billion to the SGC in approved and proposed loans and guarantees out $45bn in estimated project costs, while the Cirebon 2 coal plant is receiving almost $1.15 in finance or guarantees from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Korea Export Import Bank, two of the world’s biggest coal financiers.
NOTES:
- Dirty Dozen briefing and link to full report: http://www.priceofoil.org/dirtydozen
Contact information:
For interview: Glen Klatovsky on 0410 482 243
For media assistance: Louise Fraser on 0438 993 068