Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), has challenged the coal company, Bravus Australia, previously known as Adani Australia, to take down misinformation on their website about their role in climate change.
The organisation has lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards regulator with the legal assistance of the Environmental Defenders Office.
Bravus has said that they “are progressing the transition to a lower-carbon future” and “part of the world’s largest multinational solar energy company, the Adani Group.”
Accirding to a statement from ARRCC president Thea Ormerod, however, the claim is misleading.
“The Global Energy Monitor, on the contrary, “the Adani Group has the highest potential tonnage of coal to be mined across its coal mining projects than any other private coal producer globally,” Ms Ormerod said in a statement.
Bravus has said that they “operate responsibly, with a demonstrated adherence to best practice safety, environmental and governance processes.”
ARRCC, however, is accusing the company of “damaging greenwash. “
“Adani is one of the most aggressively expansionist fossil fuel developers in the world and has a reputation for repeated environmental breaches,” Ms Ormerod said.
“If all the coal Adani has access to is dug up and burnt, it will generate 10 gigatonnes of CO2. That is more than a quarter of global energy-related carbon emissions in 2021.”
“Climate heating is already at dangerous levels, with bushfires and storms destroying people’s lives around the world. It is contributing to sickness and death, food scarcity, sea level rise, regional conflicts and the loss of hope among our young.”
ARRCC is seeking to have Bravus Australia take tits environemental claims taken down from its website.
“Fossil fuel companies have a long history of greenwashing to support their social license to operate,” Ms Ormerod said.
“First, they responded to criticism for fueling climate change by spreading doubt and confusion.”
“Increasingly they moved to making donations to political leaders and lobbying them for laws which would protect their profits, under the guise of providing jobs in regional areas and bolstering the economy. This is ongoing.”
