SYDNEY (AFP, REUTERS) – Australia vowed on Thursday (Sept 9) to keep mining coal for export and said global demand was rising, rejecting a study that warned nearly all its reserves must stay in the ground to address the climate crisis.
Researchers warned in a study published in the journal Nature this week that 89 per cent of global coal reserves – and 95 per cent of Australia’s share – must be left untouched. Such restraint, they said, would still only offer a 50 per cent chance of limiting warming to 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels – the current global goal.
But Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday Australia’s energy exports were needed to power developing countries, and predicted that technology would enable them to be burned “in a much more climate-friendly way” in future.
“We will keep mining the resources that we’re able to sell on the world market,” Mr Morrison told a news conference when asked if he would put an “expiration date” on the coal mining industry.
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