What happens to Qld mining jobs amid climate change action

The mining giant formerly known as Adani has struck first coal at its controversial Carmichael mine, but warns lending practices by banks could threaten future employment.

Mining giant Adani has struck first coal at its Carmichael mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, with the company saying it is on track to begin exporting this year as promised.

The major milestone means extraction of thermal coal at the 44,700ha site can begin after years of the project battling a firestorm of environmental activists and political manoeuvring in order to break ground.

India will be the key customer of the mine, which would produce 10 million tonnes of coal per annum for the country.

The announcement by the company’s mining arm, now known as Bravus, came a day before it was due to front a parliamentary probe into the impacts of banks and insurers increasingly moving away from backing fossil-fuel projects.

Adani Australia, like other mining companies including New Hope group, have warned Queensland jobs will be exported overseas if banks and insurers continue to kowtow to climate change activists.

The sector, alongside the oil and gas industry, are increasingly concerned by the threat to investment as lenders aggressively pursue environmental, social and corporate governance strategies under pressure from climate activists.

Bravus Mining and Resources CEO David Boshoff with the first chunk of coal mined at the Carmichael mine. Picture: Cameron Laird

Adani Australia chief executive Lucas Dow told The Courier-Mail there needed to be more clarity on how banks were assessing their lending decisions to resources projects.

“We shouldn’t see banks or insurers removing the provision of services across what is a legal and legitimate export industry,” he said.

Mr Dow, who steered the Carmichael mine project during the apex of the political firestorm, also subtly challenged both the Coalition government and Labor on what needs to be done to fix the issue.

“We are certainly expectant of a positive outcome (since) the Coalition and Labor have both been at pains to support the coalmining sector and the jobs it supports,” he said.

The Australian Banking Association, in its submission to the inquiry, argued banks must consider risk — and climate risk had emerged as a relevant factor.

“Internationally, governments are actively requiring their trading partners to act on climate risk,” it wrote.

“At the global level, there are two forces prevailing on bank operations: the need to disclose information relating to climate exposures and the need to calculate the potential risk of climate change on banks’ balance sheets.”