An Open Letter from Australian Scientists to the Worlds

Banks Regarding Investments in Galilee Basin

We the undersigned call on banks and other financial institutions to desist from providing funding
and financial services to all fossil fuel developments in Queenslands Galilee Basin. Development of
the coal reserves of the Basin would occur at a time when the world is beginning to shift away
from fossil fuels in an attempt to avoid dangerous changes in the global climate system.
Based on current greenhouse gas emission trajectories, global average temperatures are on track
to exceed 4C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, and may eventually increase to 6C or more.
The anticipated impacts of a 4-6C increase on the climate are disastrous by any measure. The
development of the Galilee Basin would play a major part in widespread suffering over a century
time scale and beyond.

Millions of people will suffer, die and be displaced as a result of extreme heat waves, sealevel rise as much as 100 cm by 2100 with continuing large rates of rise, and by more severe
storms, droughts and floods.

Much of the globes biodiversity will be affected, with the expected extinction of more than
1 million species by 2050 and the decimation of nearly all coral reefs by 2100.

Natural feedback processes in the climate system, such as more greenhouse gas emissions
from dying vegetation, methane releases from melting permafrost, and declining carbon
absorption from warmer oceans, may lead to warming that is beyond human control.

In addition to its role in warming the globe, the mining and burning of coal is known to
have severe impacts on the health of miners, workers and local communities.

If global temperature increases are to be kept within 2C of pre-industrial levels, around 80 per
cent of the worlds coal reserves must be left in the ground 90 per cent in Australias case.
Limiting warming to 2C is official policy of the Australian government, yet plans are being made
to open up one of the biggest coal reserves in the world in the Galilee Basin. We draw your
attention to several important facts about the Galilee Basin.
1.

The coal reserves of the Basin, predominantly thermal coal, are estimated to total tens of
billions of tonnes.

2.

At peak production, the nine proposed projects in the Galilee Basin would extract 330
million tonnes of coal each year, resulting in 705 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions
annually, more than the current carbon dioxide emissions of Australia or the United Kingdom.

3.

The likely first mine would be dug by Adani Enterprises Carmichael Coal Mines and Rail
Project. Producing 60 million tonnes of coal each year at peak production, the project would
be the biggest ever seen in Australia. Covering a huge area of 28,000 hectares, the mine
would be seven times bigger than Sydney Harbour.

4.

In addition to its enduring damage to the worlds climate system, the Carmichael mine
would see millions of cubic metres of sea-bed dredged up from inside the World Heritage
Area to make way for more coal ships and a port Dredging and additional port expansion
would be detrimental to the Reef not least because much higher sea traffic would pose
serious risks of ship groundings and spills.

5.

The Carmichael mine would require 12 billion litres of water each year from local rivers and
underground aquifers, enough drinking water for every Queenslander for three years. Even
ten kilometres away, water tables are expected to drop by over one metre.

6.

The cumulative regional impacts of Galilee Basin exploitation dredging, increased

shipping, coal dust from mining pose a severe threat to the outstanding universal value of
the reef.

Projects such as the Carmichael Mine would not be able to achieve financial closure without the
support of banks to both finance and advise on its construction. Banking institutions are therefore
in a unique position to influence decisions vital to the future health of the planet and its peoples.
Consistent with the guidelines for responsible investing embodied in the Equator Principles, banks
have a responsibility to consider the suffering and irreversible damage to Earth systems that the
opening up of the Galilee Basin would help bring about.
We call on banks and other financial institutions to play no part in facilitating the development of
the Galilee Basin. Eleven international banks including BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole have
already committed not to finance coal mining in the Galilee Basin and any of the related
infrastructure, due to its environmental harms. We commend them for taking an ethical stance and
strongly urge all banks and financial institutions to follow their lead.

Professor David Karoly, Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Melbourne

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Professor Matthew England, FAA, ARC Laureate Fellow, Deputy Director, Climate Change Research
Centre, University of New South Wales
Emeritus Professor Ann Henderson-Sellers, Macquarie University
Professor Lesley Hughes, Distinguished Professor of Biology, Macquarie University
Professor Will Steffen, Adjunct Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian
National University
Professor Peter Doherty, AC, FAA, FRS, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The
University of Melbourne, Nobel Laureate and former Australian of the Year
Professor Fiona Stanley AC, FAA, FASSA, Distinguished Research Professor, University of Western
Australia and Vice-Chancellors Fellow, University of Melbourne, and former Australian of the Year
Professor Michael Archer, AM, FAA, DistFRSN, FRZSNSW, FACE, FWAAS, School of Biological, Earth
& Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
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