Africa Business Radio

Australia says it will sell coal for decades into the future after spurning a pact to phase out the polluting fossil fuel to halt catastrophic climate change. Australian Minister for Resources Keith Pitt told national broadcaster ABC that they are not closing coal mines and they are not closing coal-fired power stations. Pitt says Australia had some of the world’s highest quality coal adding that demand for coal is expected to rise until 2030, Pitt says some 300,000 Australians’ jobs were reliant on the coal sector. The Minerals Council of Australia itself says the coal industry directly employs 50,000 workers while supporting another 120,000 jobs.