Why has anybody bothered to talk about Adani for so long when much of Queensland will soon be uninhabitable?
Australia makes a vastly disproportionate contribution to global warming. It is one of the lowest ranked countries in the world on taking action to reduce climate change. Australia was ranked 55 out of 60 in a recent global survey, just above Saudi Arabia and the United States. As well as having one of the highest rates of domestic greenhouse gas emissions per person in the world, Australia has a staggering 44 tonnes per person of exported greenhouse gas emissions each, greater then Saudi Arabia (35.5 tonnes per person) and around sixty times higher than the US.
Stopping any further expansion of Australia’s coal and gas exports, gradually phasing out existing exports and reducing emissions produced at home are all essential to the global effort. This should include an ambitious domestic emission reduction target, equivalent to doubling the size of the federal government’s current goal of cutting emissions 26% by 2030.