Australia climate change activists disrupt shipping at coal port

25/11/2023 13:19

        A climate change protest off Australia's east coast disrupted operations at the country's biggest coal export port on Saturday, the port operator said.
        
        Climate activist group Rising Tide, which claimed responsibility for the action, said around 1,500 people were at the protest, 300 of them in the shipping channel near the Port of Newcastle, as part of a 30-hour blockade set to run until 4 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Sunday.
        
        Climate change is a divisive issue in Australia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal behind Indonesia, and the top exporter of coking coal, used to make steel.
        
        The Port of Newcastle, some 170 km (105 miles) from New South Wales state capital Sydney, is the largest bulk shipping port on the east coast and Australia's largest terminal for coal exports, according to the state government.