SURFACE MINING
Central Bank Analysis: Australian Coal Mines: Verge of Becoming Stranded: 2030 According to a report by Australia's central bank, three out of four scenarios that evaluate how the global energy shift would unfold put the country's coal mines at risk of becoming stranded assets. According to government estimates, Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas, with fossil fuels accounting for over a quarter of the country's total exports, worth A$71 billion ($51.9 billion) in the previous financial year. Almost two-thirds of the country's fossil fuel exports go to three major customers: Japan, China, and South Korea, all of which have set net-zero emissions objectives, 2050 for Japan and South Korea, and a decade later for China. The RBA examined how efforts to reduce emissions might affect the country's fossil fuel industry under four climate scenarios developed by the Network for Greening the Financial System (NFGS), a group of central banks dedicated to bettering climate risk management. The volume of Australian coal exports reduces in three scenarios, with the biggest drops occurring in the Net Zero and Below 2°C scenes, in which Australia's coal exports drop by 80% by mid-century. Coal exports steadily climb to be 17 percent higher in 2050 under the fourth scenario, which contains just existing government policies with modest progress in lowering emissions. Coal reserves in Australian operating mines already exceed estimated export demand by 2050 under the Net Zero and Below 2°C scenarios, implying a risk of 'stranding' even if no new mines are built. 14 | SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW November 2021
