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Coal mine in australia
Photo: Mark Baker / AP
While climate protectors are relying on ambitious pledges from states at the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, the Australian government is causing disillusionment with a statement.
Because Australia wants to mine coal for decades.
"We made it very clear that we would not close any coal mines or coal-fired power plants," said Australian resource minister Keith Pitt to ABC television.
There will be a market for coal for a long time to come and Australia will sell the raw material for as long.
He said that the demand for coal will continue to rise until 2030, Pitt said.
"And if we don't win the market, someone else will do it." Then it would be better if "Australia's quality product" created jobs there and boosted the economy than if the fuel came from Indonesia or Russia.
Australia is one of the largest producers of coal and natural gas in the world.
The country has had to contend with increasingly extreme climate-related natural disasters such as droughts, floods and bush fires in recent years.
The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced last month that Australia wanted to be climate neutral by 2050.
However, it did not come up with a specific plan for how this would be achieved.
The government in Canberra is apparently primarily relying on new technologies, which, however, do not yet exist.
Observers of the World Climate Conference complain that in some countries there is a gap between previous announcements and reality.
For example, the heavyweights in greenhouse gas emissions Australia and Saudi Arabia had proclaimed the goal of climate neutrality, "but presented no plan for implementation," said Simon Lewis of London University College.
The current emissions of the two countries are "massively in the wrong direction".
At the world climate conference COP26 in Glasgow last week, 40 countries announced that they wanted to forego the use of coal in the future. However, Australia and other important coal countries such as China and the USA did not sign. There is also a lack of important states when it comes to reducing methane. Around a hundred countries have promised to reduce emissions of the important greenhouse gas methane by 30 percent by 2030. Climate activists complain in particular that large methane emitters such as China, India, Russia and Australia have not joined the declaration.
Around 200 states are participating in the summit with almost 30,000 delegates.
They are struggling to find out how the goal of limiting global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times can still be achieved.
Experts and the UN warn that the earth is currently heading for 2.7 degrees warming this century.
According to previous plans, the summit should end on Friday.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg made it clear that, from her point of view, the conference was already a failure.
She lamented inaction and "blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah" on the part of the major economic nations.
mmq / AFP / dpa