Climate activists once again took to the offensive, as with a flotilla of kayaks they managed to disrupt operations at the world’s largest coal port, that of Newcastle, Australia, staging a protest aimed at pressuring for higher taxes on fossil fuels.
Activists from the groups Rising Tide and Greenpeace Australia Pacific disrupted operations at the world’s largest coal port. The protest has affected the movement of commercial vessels and has led to the arrest of approximately 150 people.
With thousands of people occupying the port of Newcastle, this protest has been described as the largest climate protest in Australia’s history, with at least three ships being prevented from docking at the port to load coal. On November 30, the port operator, the Port Authority of New South Wales, was forced to cancel incoming shipping for several hours, citing a safety hazard.
Among the vessels caught in the eye of the storm was the bulk carrier Ragnar, with a capacity of 95,750 dwt, which was scheduled to load coal destined for China. The vessel was unable to enter the port. The previous day, the bulk carrier Cemtex Leader, with a capacity of 85,000 dwt under the Singapore flag, had been prevented from docking at the port to load a cargo of coal destined for Japan.
On December 1, at least 16 activists locked themselves onto coal equipment at the port, resulting in the halting of coal loading.
The five-day protest, which has so far led to the arrests of approximately 150 people, has significantly impacted the port’s operations, which has nine coal handling berths. The port shows a significant increase in coal exports, handling 150 million tonnes of coal last year, an increase of 3.8% compared to 2023.
The blockade aims to pressure the Australian government to stop approving new coal mines and to introduce a 78% tax on profits from coal exports.
The activists, who opened a banner that read “stop exporting climate chaos” and wrote in chalk “78% tax on fossil fuels”, believe that the funds collected from the tax can be channeled to secure jobs that are increasingly threatened by the green transition.
“We are disrupting coal exports from Newcastle again today because the government is not taking climate action and is not supporting workers with a well-funded transition plan to support new jobs and industries,” said Zack Schofield, a spokesperson for Rising Tide.
He added that the federal government is protecting the profits of multinational coal companies instead of providing the necessary support to the communities that will be most affected as global markets move away from the polluting mineral.
The protests are expected to further burden Australia’s coal industry, which is already facing a bleak future due to reduced demand from China, which is the main buyer of Australian coal.
The government is already warning that coal revenues, which amounted to $59.7 billion in 2023-24, are projected to fall to $26 billion in 2024-25 and $23.5 billion in 2025-26.
Recently we have seen many protests against fossil fuels by activists, which however often endanger ships and crews. Great caution is required from all involved parties to avoid a maritime accident.
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