Protesters chanted “Yancoal, No way! End mining coal today!” outside the fossil fuel company’s annual general meeting, on May 27, at Darling Harbour.
Yancoal is seeking state and federal approval to expand its destructive Moolarben open-cut thermal coal mine in the Mudgee region, which would also clear more than 100 hectares of endangered koala habitat.
The protest was organised by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC), Rising Tide and the Knitting Nannas.
The climate protesters called on Yancoal’s shareholders to veto the company’s development plans which would affect wildlife as well as exacerbate the climate emergency.
Moolarben is one of the largest coal mines in New South Wales; the coal extracted there is then shipped through the Port of Newcastle.
Three youth climate advocates attended the AGM to put questions to the company on how its expansion would impact threatened species.
RT organises annual mobilisations aimed at blocking the coal from being exported through the world’s largest coal export port at Muloobinba/Newcastle. The protest this year is from November 27 to December 2.
“The impacts of this mine have been devastating for people, animals and the environment around the world,” RT said. “To expand is to continue, compound and intensify the damage.”
It said if Yancoal was given its extension, 113 hectares of endangered koala habitat would be cleared, which would also have “a significant impact on other endangered species such as the regent honeyeater, large eared pied bat and eastern cave bat”.
The NCC said Yancoal’s expansion would pose “a serious threat” to the survival of koalas and other threatened species like the regent honeyeater, a critically endangered bird species of which there are only 250-350 individuals left in the wild.