Sydney, Dec 20 (DPA) Dozens of protesters who stopped and chained themselves to a train carrying coal to the world’s largest coal terminal were arrested in the east-coast Australian city of Newcastle Sunday.
“We’re here today protesting the failure of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen that we believe the rich world wrecked any chance of getting any good agreement out of,” protest spokesman Steve Phillips said. “The US, Australia and other wealthy countries wrecked the talks.”
Phillips told Australian news agency AAP that the disappointing outcome at Copenhagen – agreement to limit global warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels but no country targets for doing so – would spark more protests by environmental activists.
“People are tired of seeing our leaders fail to address the problem of climate change,” he said.
Australia, which relies on coal for 86 percent of electricity generation, is the world’s biggest polluter on a per capita basis. It is also the world’s largest coal exporter.