Australia has just set foot in the dish during the 26th environmental conference which is being held in Glasgow until 12 November.
Last week, around 40 countries pledged to phase out coal in the coming decades.
But Australia, like several major coal-consuming countries such as China and the United States, has not signed this agreement whose objective is to fight against climate change.
Coal still accounts for over a third of global electricity production but is responsible for around 40% of carbon dioxide emissions.
Read also Agreement on deforestation at COP26: a great promise, but for what tomorrow?
The country has even claimed that it will continue to sell coal for “decades” to come.
"We have made it very clear that we will not close our coal mines or our coal plants," Australian Resources Minister Keith Pitt told ABC.
"And if they buy ... well, we sell."
Besides the fact that Australian coal is of the best quality in the world, he says, global demand is far from stopping overnight. “And that's why we will continue to have markets for decades to come. And if they buy… well, we sell ”. According to him, the demand for coal in the world will even increase until 2030. “If we don't win this deal, someone else will win it. I would much prefer it to be a high quality Australian product, which provides Australian jobs and builds the Australian economy, rather than (coal) from Indonesia, Russia or elsewhere “, He launched.
Although Scott Morrison's government last month said it wanted to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Australia remains one of the world's largest producers of coal and natural gas, the sector employs nearly 300 000 people in this sector.
VIDEO.
"The COP26 is a failure" says Greta Thunberg in front of thousands of young demonstrators
However, large mining groups in the country are opting out of the most polluting fossil fuels.
BHP has announced that it has sold its 80% stake in a metallurgical coal mine in eastern Queensland state to Stanmore Resources for at least $ 1.2 billion Americans.
“As the world decarbonises, BHP is focusing more on producing the high-quality metallurgical coal sought after by global steelmakers to improve efficiency and reduce emissions,” said Edgar Basto, Head of Australian Mining at BHP.
