I have just written to the Chair of the State Bank of India in these terms: I have today signed the petition to the State Bank of India asking it to reject the application from Gautam Adani for a loan to fund his proposed coal and mine development project in Australia. I am e-sending this e-mail to ask you personally to ensure that the State Bank of India joins the eight banks which have already refused to finance this project. You have declared your inention that SBI should crack down on bad loans and this could be the world’s worst loan. That is why I am urging you to ensure that you receive, and publish, a full independent assessment of the project’s huge financial and environmental risks. UNESCO has said that the project puts the Great Barrier Reef in danger. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living organism on Earth and home to thousands of protected species. In the past three decades it has lost around half its coral, owing to pollution from mines, climate change and other factors. The German magazine Der Spiegel has reported that if current trends continue, the unthinkable could happen: the Great Barrier Reef could die. Granting Gautam Adani his loan would be likely to cause a rapid acceleration of these trends. This coal rush is toxic for the planet. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, and to get the coal to India, Adani would need to expand a shipping lane right through the Reef. It has been argued that India needs coal to pull people out of poverty, but your country’s own coal minister has recently announced that India should be able to phase out coal imports in the next three years, long before the Australian mine is ever completed! That is why concerned people around the world count on you to make the right decision for your bank, for the irreplaceable Great Barrier Reef, and for the world’s climate. I hope that you will feel able to do something similar - and at least sign and share the petition.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 09:03:06 +0000
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