Australian PM Tony Abbott (more on him here) has given the go-ahead for an Indian corporation to expand a mine and create a shipping lane: right on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef. Adani is India´s biggest energy company, with a CEO worth over $500bn. The corporation has committed shameful environmental abuses and been fined for corruption and theft in its own country. If Adani get the $1bn finance they need from an Indian bank, billions of tonnes of mining waste will be dropped into one of the world´s natural wonders.
The Reef is expected to die by 2050 at current rates of ocean acidification and pollution, and this crazy plan will only bring that date forward. UNESCO have threatened to take the Great Barrier Reef off its world heritage list and declare it endangered, but that hasn´t changed Abbott´s betrayal of an Australian treasure.
In case you need a reminder, here´s a two minute video showing why the Great Barrier Reef is worth fighting for. Please sign Avaaz´s petition here, to demand the Indian bank NOT give Adani the crucial loan needed to go ahead and kill this majestic underwater world. The good news is, under huge global pressure many other banks have turned their back on the deal. Make sure Adani´s last hope, the State Bank Of India, does the same.
