Big investors are increasingly aware that coal consumption will have to drop dramatically as part of efforts to tackle climate change, a top Macquarie Bank executive has warned. The warning from Macquarie’s executive chairman in Melbourne, Simon McKeon, came as a report from the Climate Commission highlights that much of Australian large coal and coal-seam gas reserves would need to be left in the ground if the world was to keep global warming to less than 2 degrees. The report also casts doubt on a key element of the Australian government’s direct action policy to tackle climate change.
See http://www.afr.com/p/australia2-0/climate_commission_warns_coal_will_Os3K60MAR9LJPTDd2nGTDO.
Among companies mining coal in Australia are London-listed Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Glencore Xstrata and Rio Tinto.