The ‘Nogat Coal: No Coal in PNG’ campaign is a collaboration between CELCOR, Nogat Coal and, Jubilee Australia Research Centre.

The campaign’s goal is to stop the development of coal industry in Papua New Guinea led by an Australian listed company, Mayur Resources.

Papua New Guinea does not need to open for a dying industry to improve its energy access. Instead, we believe that the answer lies in a just and equitable energy pathway for PNG using renewable energy.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) does not have any operational coal mines or coal-fired power stations – something the Australian company Mayur wants to change. If Mayur’s plan to mine coal and build coal-fired power plant(s) goes ahead, PNG would be the first Pacific Island Country to develop a coal industry.

There are impacts across all stage of the coal industry, coal pollutes the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land that we depend on.

The mining and burning of coal are a leading cause in the climate crisis we are facing.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the world has already warmed by one degree due to mass industrialisation, increasing greenhouse, gas pollution from the burning of oil, coal and gas.

While readily increasing access to electricity is an admirable goal for the Government of PNG, the country does not need to build a new coal-fired power station (or new coal mines) to achieve it. There are better ways to achieve the goal of increasing access to electricity in PNG.

Renewable energy is a better alternative to the polluting coal industry.

Renewable energy is produced harnessing the energy of the earth: solar energy uses energy from the sun; wind power uses energy from the wind, and hydropower harnesses energy from fast-flowing rivers. Because these renewable energy technologies do not put any new carbon into the atmosphere, they do not contribute to climate change.

Research suggests that off-grid electricity expansion is likely to be more effective in increasing electricity access for more people in Papua New Guinea (PNG) than on-grid solutions. Off-grid electricity generation includes micro-hydro, and small scale solar and biomass facilities that would be a more effective way to get electricity access to these rural locations.