Campaigners from Greenpeace have boarded a coal ship off the coast of Australia, highlighting the country’s vast exports of a fuel which is a major contributor to global carbon emissions.
The country is the world’s largest exporter of black coal, most of it heading to Asian markets.
It is also increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events that the Australian Climate Commission believes are linked to climate change.
Earlier this year the country experienced its hottest temperatures since records began. Heavy rainfalls also appear more common on the east coast, while New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania report increasingly severe droughts.
“We’ve established a peaceful protest on board this ship because the Australian government has failed to do anything to reduce our biggest single contribution to climate change, which is our coal industry,” a spokesperson said.
Greenpeace have also launched a petition calling on the government to take further steps to reduce its carbon footprint. Australia has the highest per capita emissions of any developed country on the planet.