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Adani’s coal project exposes yet another risk to insurers: flooding

Adani and its rail line contractors, BMD and Martinus, have failed to prepare for the wet season. Pictures have emerged of substantial flooding on a section of the under-construction rail line to service the proposed Adani Carmichael coal mine in Australia.

Lawyers from Environmental Justice Australia (EJA), acting for Mackay Conservation Group (MCG), have written to Queensland Government ministers urging them to immediately investigate flood mitigation failures and sediment control breaches on the Adani Carmichael rail line. Photos of the breaches were taken by MCG, indicating large sections of Adani’s rail corridor submerged beneath flood waters.

Companies in financial distress are prone to cutting corners on maintenance, regulations and compliance. No insurance company in their right mind would insure a rail line on a flood plain that is not designed to withstand normal flooding events. Experts, former workers and environmental lawyers have slammed the design and construction of the rail line as it is not up to the standards required to prevent flood damage. Such widespread criticism of the coal project, in addition to the extreme climate impacts, violation of indigenous rights, and environmental degradation, send a clear message to insurance companies that Adani is not worth the risk.

This flooding is yet another reason insurance companies should drop this high-risk, climate wrecking project. Insurers at Lloyd’s of London, including Hiscox, Arch and Brit who have not yet publicly ruled out insuring Adani are running out of reasons not to do so.

For more information on the breaches, and the complaint filed by EJA on behalf of MCG, read the piece in ABC News Australia

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