Greta Thunberg calls on Siemens to halt planned Australia coal mine

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has called on German engineering group Siemens AG to stop, delay or interrupt the building of a coal mine in Australia.

Emer McCarthy reports.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg called on German engineering group Siemens AG to stop, delay or interrupt the building of a controversial coal mine in Australia on Saturday (January 11).

The 17-year-old, who was named Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year' in 2019, tweeted-- "On Monday they will announce their decision.

Please help pushing them to make the only right decision.

#StopAdani".

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser said the engineering giant will decide by Monday (January 13) on its involvement in the development of the coal mine being built by India's Adani.

The Australian government last year approved the construction of the new coal mine in the state of Queensland by Adani that is expected to produce 8-10 million tonnes of thermal coal a year.

Thunberg's call comes as Australia continues to battle through one of its most destructive bushfire seasons.

Since October, 27 people have been killed as huge fires scorched more than 10.3 million hectares (25.5 million acres) of land, an area roughly the size of South Korea.

On Friday (January 10) thousands took to the streets of the country's major cities to protest against government inaction on climate change.