Photo: Frontline Action on Coal
By SAT News Desk
Mackay, Queensland, 16 January: Siemens’ Mackay office has been disrupted this morning by protestors staging the hammering of the earth’s coffin by Siemens’ CEO, Joe Kaeser. This comes after Siemens’ confirmation of its decision to work on rail signaling infrastructure for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.
Despite widespread international criticism and demonstrations, Mr. Kaeser said in a statement earlier this week that “there is a legally binding and enforceable fiduciary responsibility to carry out this train signaling contract”. This decision comes amidst catastrophic bushfires across the country. A spokesperson for Stop Adani, Wendy Tubman said “Kaeser’s statement is business as usual but we don’t need business as usual right now, we need corporate leaders to take bold steps towards a fossil fuel-free future. Supporting new coal projects, especially one as catastrophic as the Adani mine, is the exact opposite of this”.
The Adani project will, if completed, be one of the largest thermal coal mines in the world. Furthermore, the infrastructure developed for Adani’s mine will enable the development of other mines proposed for the Galilee Basin.
Siemens’ decision to work on the project is in stark contrast to the company’s stated decarbonization goals and comes ahead of Siemens’ Annual General Meeting next month, with predicted further demonstrations against the company’s decision as well as dissent amongst shareholders.
