If Australia succeeds in its plans to double its coal exports, the world's plans to tackle global warming will fail.

A bold call from the Pacific

For the leaders of Pacific nations that lie just metres above sea level, climate change is a matter of life and death.

That's why His Excellency Anote Tong, former President of the Republic of Kiribati, wrote to world leaders ahead of the Paris climate summit, asking them to back a global moratorium on new coal mines and coal mine expansions.

"What we are talking about is survival, it's not about economic development... it's not politics, it's survival," 

- President Anote Tong.

Several other Pacific Island nations immediately backed the President's call, calling for global moratorium on new coal mines, and for carbon emissions to be capped at a level that will stop global average temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius when they appeared before the United Nations. And more than 15,000 people joined our open letter calling for President Hollande of France to put a global moratorium on new export coal mines on the agenda for Paris. 

The global moratorium on new coal mines has also received widespread support from key figures including Lord Nicholas Stern, Naomi Klein and Kumi Naidoo.

Since No New Coal Mines was launched in 2015, the United States, China and Indonesia have announced domestic moratoria on new coal mines.

Australia's role

Australia has a larger share of the seaborne coal market than Saudi Arabia has of the world oil market, and it plans to sell even more over the next 10 years. The deal reached at the Paris climate talks will be undone by the planned thermal coal expansion projects in Australia and a handful of other countries.

Many Australians are concerned about our coal expansion, but Australia’s political leadership is united behind building more coal mines.

No New Coal Mines is an initiative of The Australia Institute.