President Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline is our clearest sign that the age of fossil fuels is over. For the first time in history, a world leader has turned down a major fossil fuel project because of its impact on the climate. This sets a groundbreaking precedent that will send shockwaves through financial markets and the fossil fuel industry. It's a decision that Australian investors and politicians ignore at their peril.
Just a few years ago, insiders and experts wrote Keystone XL campaigners off and assured the world that this 4000 km pipeline, that would unlock Canada's tar sands, would be built by the end of 2011. Instead, a diverse movement of ranchers, indigenous communities, college students and everyday people united to beat the project back, reminding the world that the fossil fuel industry isn't invincible--and that hope is a renewable resource.
The Keystone decision is a vindication of the power of social movements to achieve profound political change. It's time now to build on this victory, and show that if it's wrong to build Keystone because of its impact on our climate, then it's wrong to build any new fossil fuel project, and Australia is no exception. With the broad coalition that is standing up to coal and gas in Australia, campaigning for divestment and creating alternative energy economies, we're better positioned than ever to push for policies that leave fossil fuels in the ground, and invest in renewable energies.
Just as the Keystone decision is a game-changer for social movements, so too is it for financial markets. Whilst Keystone's construction would have sent market signals that would reverberate across the economy in ways that are dangerous to our climate, its rejection is a powerful signal that the time for investment in fossil fuels is over. Investors who continue to prop up the fossil fuel industry through their loan books, share portfolios, bank accounts and super funds do so at their own risk. Fossil fuels are on the way out and they will take us and our money with them if we don't get out now.
It's no surprise that major investors like the world's richest sovereign wealth fund has divested from coal, that major banks are saying no to fossil fuels and that the divestment campaign has spread like wildfire - reaching over 450 institutions in just three years. This may be the end for the Keystone XL Pipeline, but it's just the beginning for our movement. The win against Keystone XL will fuel a thousand other fights against the industry for years to come and Australia can and must take a leaf out of the Keystone book.
As I write, Indian mining giant Adani is still trying to construct one of the world's largest coal project in Queensland's Galilee Basin. If unlocked, the Galilee Basin's coal would triple Australia's emissions and take the planet past a two degree temperature rise, the climate red line set by world governments. Yet aside from the unconscionable impact that this project would have on our climate, its maths don't stack up either.
With the Coalition having just re-approved Adani's mine and the fossil fuel industry puffing up its meagre economic importance, the reality is that demand for coal is dropping like a stone. Galilee coal is primarily destined for China and India yet China has capped its emissions and coal consumption and India's own energy minister says that India will stop importing coal within 2-3 years. It's no surprise then that, years into this ludicrous project, Adani has failed to raise the capital needed to get it off the ground, nor that fourteen major international banks have ruled out involvement in the Galilee. This is the inevitable fate of all new fossil fuel projects.
But it's not only financially stupid to invest in fossil fuel projects like the Galilee and Keystone -- it's morally bankrupt and reputationally fatal. Those who invest in these projects and the companies behind them are helping to fund a climate catastrophe. Importantly, they're putting themselves in the firing line of one the most powerful social movements the world has seen.
The growth of the movement to fight back fossil fuel expansion is and has been astonishing to watch. In Australia, groups along the Reef have united to take fossil fuel companies to Court, the Lock the Gate movement has taken on the cashed-up power of coal and gas violating our precious farmland and water resources, indigenous communities have fought back mining communities desecrating their sacred sites; and individuals and institutions have moved hundreds of millions of their dollars out of fossil fuel investments. This movement will only continue to grow, creating an increasingly toxic atmosphere for any politician or investor planning to dig new coal or drill new gas out of the ground.
The Keystone rejection is our surest sign yet that there's hope for those of us working so hard for climate justice. It's our best sign that investors and politicians who continue to push a pro-fossil fuel agenda do so at their own risk and at the risk of the planet as we know it. The Galilee Basin is fast becoming Australia's Keystone. It is the line in the sand for our movement. We have an opportunity to keep these vast reserves of coal in the ground and opt for a brighter, renewable-powered future. This is the beginning of the end of fossil fuels -- let's seize the moment so that in years to come, we can look back and be proud that we made the right choice.
Learn more about how the Keystone campaign was won by watching this video.