Australia is pretty much run by the coal and mining industries.
It's not an insult, just a fact.
Australia is pretty much run by the coal and mining industries.
It's not an insult, just a fact.
The mining oligarchs (Rinehart, Palmer and such) bet big on the conservatives winning power and undoing the energy transition Trump-fashion at the last election, and lost spectacularly. The conservatives are out of power, and it appears to be for a long time, so the chickens are coming home to roost. The government is by no means a radical one (regardless of what some of the more unhinged propaganda from the fossil-funded right says), though as the markets themselves are leaning towards renewables on economic grounds alone, they’re trying to balance this transition with keeping the economy stable. Hence officially promoting the transition and funding decarbonisation of energy whilst still approving coal mines.
Maybe, and? Do you believe it can change and/or has the right to change?
The conference's page does not try to pretend that it's all shiny and perfect right now. Quoting:
Hosting this summit in a major coal port, in the world’s fifth-largest coal producer, sends a powerful message: fossil-fuel-dependent nations want to end their dependence on oil, gas, and coal extraction, but doing so fairly requires unprecedented international cooperation so that no one is left behind.
You're talking aspirational, I'm talking the economic and political realities of Australia.
So to answer your question, no, I don't think it can change, but not because they don't want to, as I don't know what's in their hearts, but because their economy is structured around resource extraction.
So fine, talk all the aspirational talk, but just know that you're putting a fox in the hen house, which I'm pretty sure is exactly why they removed the petro-states.
I think I see the point you're trying to make. I'm not sure if my question is purely aspirational, though. When you say "political realities of Australia" for example, shouldn't the word "political" already imply that this is heavily influenced by people's thoughts and resolve? I think Australians should evaluate that, not me who is in Europe or you since you refer to Australia as "they".
Coal use != coal mining. Exporting shit to make yourself look cleaner is not how it works. It is exactly as bad.
feel free to take it up with the countries buying it, or is it just the west that has to reduce its dependence on coal?
If Australia stops selling coal, it will get more expensive and other countries will have more reasons to use renewables
To what are you replying to really? Does it say anywhere in the original article that the new conference is about the reduction of coal use but not mining? I haven't found any indications of that; instead, I see mentions that they want to reduce overall "coal dependency" and "coal extraction":
transitioning away from fossil fuel extraction
oil, gas, and coal extraction
global effort to phase out coal
https://fossilfueltreaty.org/first-international-conference
I think such a trivial thought has come to the organizers of this conference and it's well addressed.
I originally replied to someone, must have ended up in the wrong place.
Ah NP then. Peace!
Australia, ending fossils? Huh? Aren't they ramping up coal mining?
Negative our coal use is trending downwards:

We are a bit similar to Norway in that domestically we're doing great at pushing forward with renewables but we export most of our crap:
The main sources of domestic energy production from natural sources were:
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/energy/energy-account-australia/2023-24
So we export fossil fuels but at home we're number one in the world:
Australia has the highest per capita solar capacity, now over 1.4kW.
We also I'm pretty certain (thanks to the Labor governments home battery subsidises) number one in the world with home battery installs:
“Based on the success of the program to date, we anticipate around 175,000 valid batteries to be installed by the end of 2025, representing around 3.9 GWh of useable capacity.
When you can get a 40kwh home battery for 7000 AUD (~4500 USD) to hook up to your solar panels (which are getting bugger all for sending solar to the grid because we now have too much solar being generated now) and just about go off grid, why wouldn't you?
Sorry for long reply :X
Where can you get 40kWh for 7k? Thats off by a factor of about 4 in my experience. Parents just spent ~$1k/kWh for their battery earlier this year.
few on ozbargain:
[NSW] 50kWh VoltX Solar Battery & 10kW Inverter $6,999 Installed (NSW Metro Only) @ VoltX Energy
[NSW, SA, QLD] NEW Customers Only: 41.93 Kwh Fox ESS Eq4800 Solar Battery from $5,199 @ Aussie Solar Batteries
Those prices just seem too good to be true, but if real, thats incredible.
Quick search of voltx, and their site is offering 30kWh for $7k, so thats already a downgrade, but that could be just out of date info.
How about your coal exports?