Even billionaire coal barons know that the era of coal-fired power is over. But they're refusing to just leave it in the ground.
So instead they've come up with a horrifying back-up plan: turn their unburnable coal into the dirtiest plastic on earth.
We’ve just found out that Adani Enterprises has submitted plans to build a $4bn plant to convert coal dug from its bitterly opposed mine in Australia and turn it into toxic PVC plastic in India.
But we can stop this terrible plan before it ever gets off the ground - IF we can get Adani’s biggest investor, Blackrock, to revolt.
The world already has a plastics problem. And a climate crisis. Adani’s idea combines the two -- coal based plastics create triple the greenhouse emissions of conventional plastic.
Even within the fossil fuel industry, converting coal into plastic is controversial. One oil executive described coal-to-plastics plants as “massive CO₂ machines that make chemicals as a sidestream.”
And it's not just environmental damage to be concerned about. PVC plastic production creates more toxic outputs than any other form of plastic, leaving workers and nearby communities at far greater risk of deadly health impacts.
But here's the thing: these plans are new and Adani can only embark on this massively controversial and risky $4bn plan if its investors are on side.
We've succeeded at getting Blackrock to use its influence over Adani before. If we raise our voices together we can create global pressure on Blackrock to withdraw their support from Adani Enterprises over these toxic plans.
Investor pressures matter: last year, thousands of SumOfUs members joined a global push to stop the State Bank of India (SBI) loaning to Adani's coal mine. The outcry you helped create forced Blackrock to intervene and pressure the SBI not to make the loan. Thanks to this intervention the loan is still stalled!
When we raise our voices, investors like Blackrock listen. That's why we need to build loud and swift outcry to this terrible proposal. Add your voice now!
More information
Guardian. 17 June 2021.
Bloomberg. 3 June 2021.
Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. 24 May 2021.