There's been some very exciting developments recently in the push for a global moratorium on new coal mines.
The Obama Administration has announced a moratorium on granting new coal mine leases on federal land while it examines its entire coal leasing program -- a process they estimate to take three years. This policy mirrors the announcement by China in the last days of 2015, that they would impose a three year moratorium on Chinese coal mine approvals.
While neither the Chinese or US governments have yet to call on other countries to introduce a global moratorium on new coal mines, the decision of two of the largest consumers of coal to support a domestic ban on building new coal mines makes the prospect of a global ban much more likely in the medium term.
Unfortunately, despite the best efforts and wishes of the Australian community, the determination of the Australian government to build new coal mines remains intact. Indeed, in the weeks after Paris the Adani/Carmichael mine passed through yet another approval process in the Queensland Land Court.
So, where to from here?
After a lot of support and encouragement from around the world, we are ramping up the call for No New Coal Mines in a number of countries and we hope you are keen to join us in keeping up the pressure.
As the US and Chinese announcements show, things are moving fast. That said, we have a lot more work to do if we are to build enough pressure to stop one of the biggest industries in the world causing as much climate change as they can, while they still can.