Ethics in Business
Australia approves Adani coal mine
Jeff Goodell, June 14, 2019
This week, the Queensland State government decided to allow a big coal mine in northeastern Australia to move forward. The project, known as the Carmichael mine, is controlled by the Adani Group, an Indian corporate behemoth headed by billionaire Gautam Adani. The site for the Carmichael mine is in the Galilee Basin, an unspoiled region of Queensland, Australia.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society called the approval of the mine “bad news” for the Great Barrier reef.
The approval of the Adani project is an aggressive attack on the 1,600-mile-long reef in two deadly ways. First, by condoning the mining and burning of coal, which is heating up and acidifiying the oceans and killing coral reefs, Australian politicians are essentially saying they are willing to sacrifice one of the great wonders of the world for a few jobs and some extra cash in their pockets.
In fact, a key part of the Adani project is a new coal terminal on the Queensland coast, which is right at the edge of the Barrier Reef. That means more industrialization in the area, more water pollution, more coal barges floating over the reef, more risk of disasters that would dump dirty black rocks on one of nature’s crown jewels.
The coal will be exported to India, a nation that is hugely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and is struggling to make the transition to clean energy.
By itself, the Adani project is not huge. It’s expected to produce about ten million tons of coal a year at first . But the project includes a 200-mile long railroad to the coal terminal on the Queensland coast, which could potentially open the remote Galilee Basin to further development.
Nor does the coal industry funnel much money back into the local economy. A 2017 study found 86 percent of the Australian mining industry is foreign owned, so any profits flow offshore.
What the coal industry does have is money. In the past 10 years or so, the Australian mining industry poured over half a billion dollars into lobby groups that push coal and fossil fuels. That has been a good investment: Between 2008 and 2013 in Queensland alone, the government laid out more than $8 billion on projects to benefit the coal industry.
An Adani spokesperson said: “With construction of the Carmichael Project well and truly under way we have repeatedly demonstrated that we will not be intimidated or deterred from delivering on our promises to regional Queenslanders, Australians and people in developing nations who desperately need affordable energy to help lift them out of poverty.”
QUESTIONS:
1. With reference to the above extract, explain the causes and the consequences found in the case study in relation to social and/or environmental issues.
(200-350 words)
2. Identify the main stakeholders involved in this case and evaluate to what extent each of them is responsible for this situation.
(300-450 words)
3. What CSR model/approach would you recommend for this situation? Explain in detail your reasoning for the chosen model and identify potential weaknesses this model might have in this context.
(500-700 words)
