New research has revealed that mining giant Adani is planning a massive expansion in fossil fuel production and use this decade, including:

• Doubling its coal power generation, from 12 to 24 gigawatts (GW) through 6 new coal power stations and expansions, giving it more coal power capacity than all of Australia.

• Adding and enabling an extra 132 million tonnes per annum of new thermal coal mining capacity, including the massive 60 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) Carmichael project in Australia, which will help pave the way for more massive coal mines in the untapped Galilee Basin. 

• New coal and LNG terminals at Adani ports.

• A highly polluting coal-to-plastics plant that would use 3.1 mtpa of imported coal, including 1 mtpa of thermal coal.

• 1,500 new retail petrol stations and 1,500 new CNG stations

The research, compiled by Market Forces based on Adani’s own corporate reports, shows that Adani could play a major role in undermining global efforts to address global heating if its planned coal and gas expansions go ahead.

In addition to the abundance of evidence that limiting global heating to 1.5°C means no expansion of the fossil fuel industry, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has found all new coal mines and extensions, and new oil and gas fields, must be stopped from this year to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Despite its plans to massively expand fossil fuels, the Adani Group is launching a bizarre new website and social media campaign asking children to submit their ideas for fighting climate change. 

Adani’s iCan campaign implores people to reduce their own carbon footprints, with a heavy focus on individual responsibilities and micro-consumer actions such as changing light bulbs and bringing recycled bags to the supermarket. The campaign launch comes exactly one week after Adani extracted the first lumps of coal from its Carmichael coal mine, which would be the biggest coal mine in Australia's history and produce enough coal over its lifetime to, once burned, emit 4.6 billion tonnes of carbon emissions.

Pablo Brait from Market forces said Adani is trying to present itself as a responsible corporate citizen to investors and the public, while undermining global efforts to address climate change by investing billions of dollars in expansionary coal and gas projects.

“The Adani Group’s tagline is ‘growth with goodness’ but ‘growth with greenwash’ would be more appropriate,” said Mr Brait. 

“Adani claims to be a company in transition. But the shocking information we’ve gathered from Adani Group’s own reports shows this is a lie. It’s profoundly hypocritical for a heavily polluting coal giant such as Adani to pretend it cares about climate change while massively expanding coal and gas infrastructure. This research reveals why it’s so important to look past what companies are saying regarding climate action, and look at what they’re actually doing. Adani Group is adding emissions right when we need to be reducing them to avoid more catastrophic climate change.” 

17-year-old school striker Anjali Sharma who recently took on Whitehaven Coal in the courts, fighting for climate justice, said it was hypocritical for Adani to ask young people to take individual responsibility for solving climate change while it refuses to take corporate responsibility for its own climate impacts.

“Young people will face a harsher future because of companies like Adani - which continue to expand coal despite knowing the damage it will do to my generation,” said Ms Sharma.

"For a coal giant to ask children for ideas to solve this crisis, while they themselves do nothing to decrease their own emissions, is a hypocritical case of greenwashing. Adani pretends to care about future generations, but we already know the solution to stop climate change is to stop coal, oil and gas. Instead of looking to young people to solve their problems, Adani should look in the mirror and cancel all their new coal and gas projects immediately.”

Adani’s coal and gas expansion plans have been exposed as Adani’s major investors face a renewed wave of pressure from the #StopAdani movement, who are demanding major investors - including State Bank of India, BlackRock, HSBC, JP Morgan and MUFG - use their power as investors to stop Adani’s fossil fuel expansion. Over 100 Covid-safe events took place at offices and bank branches across Australia last week, with protesters demanding investors stop investing in Adani until Adani stops pursuing its giant Carmichael coal mine.

Over 100 companies have already publicly distanced themselves from Adani’s Australian coal mine. Adani Ports has faced a wave of investor backlash recently, with Samsung, Pimco, Storebrand and KLP all divesting because of Adani Ports’ connections to the Carmichael coal mine and the Myanmar Military.

Pablo Brait said, “The extent of Adani’s fossil fuel expansion plans are alarming and should serve as a stark warning to financiers. If you are investing in or arranging bonds for any Adani Group company, you are enabling one of the biggest fossil fuel expansions on Earth. If Adani’s investors want to have a shred of credibility on climate change then they need to pull their money out of this rogue conglomerate immediately.”