Submitted by Cam Walker on Tue, 26/05/2015 – 12:57

Melbourne, 26 May 2015. Activists today attempted to unfurl a giant banner in BHP Billiton headquarters containing the names of over 9,000 people who are calling for the company to abandon its plans to build a series of coal mines in some of the last remaining stands of primary rainforest in Indonesian Borneo. The banner – measuring 12 square metres – was to be hung in the foyer of BHP Billiton’s head offices in Melbourne, but was quickly confiscated by BHP Billiton security (image of banner available below). A protest is also planned for BHP Billiton’s London offices tonight, Australian time, and the petition will be formally presented to company management.

The petition calls the series of mines – known as the IndoMet project – a “disaster in the making” and asks BHP Billiton (BHPB) to “withdraw from IndoMet immediately and seek permanent protection for the area.”

A report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released on Monday, estimated that global fossil fuel use is subsidised to the tune of US$5.3 trillion a year (6.5% of global GDP).

The striking finding of the IMF, echoing previous work by economists such as Nicholas Muller, Robert Mendelsohn, and William Nordhaus for the United States, is that the third category of costs, smog and particulates, is easily the largest. Within this category, the biggest cost is due to particulate emissions from coal.

Professor John Quiggin, School of Economics at The University of Queensland notes that:

It follows that, even disregarding impact of climate change, the costs of burning fossil fuels outweigh the benefits in many cases. So, a reduction in fossil fuel use, and particularly in coal use makes economic sense.

He suggests rhis will drive China and India to abandon coal.

More details in his article from The Conversation.

EU moves to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility were shelved following pressure from US trade officials over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal, newly released documents show.

Draft EU criteria could have banned 31 pesticides containing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). But these were dumped amid fears of a trade backlash stoked by an aggressive US lobby push, access to information documents obtained by Pesticides Action Network (PAN) Europe show.

The report in a recent Guardian shows our concern over trade deals such as the TPP are well justified.