You may have seen the headline of the recent Guardian article: ‘Greyhound cuts ties with Adani mine after backlash from climate activists’ and thought ‘Hooray!’ So which ties, exactly, have been severed?
Originally Greyhound signed a 3-month contract with Adani, with possibility of extension. What has been severed is this ‘possibility of extension‘. So, the 3-month contract still stands, and Greyhound will still work with Adani, but only for 3 months. After that, Adani will have to find somebody else to transport workers. Now you can say ‘Hooray!’
In a statement released by Greyhound Australia, they said “Following considered deliberation, and in the best interests of our staff, customers, and partners, Greyhound Australia has decided to not enter into a contractual agreement with BMD to service construction of the Carmichael Rail Network beyond our preliminary 31 March 2020 commitment.”
BMD is the construction company responsible for building the railway line that will transport coal from the Carmichael coal mine to the Abbot Point Port. From the Port, the coal will then be shipped off, across the Great Barrier Reef, across the ocean, to be burnt in India. A mine needs construction companies, workers, and investors. If these essential companies continue to say ‘no’ to Adani the mine may become a mere capitalist dream (everyone else’s nightmare).
“As Greyhound have discovered, and Siemens are in the middle of discovering, Adani’s climate-wrecking mine is a surefire way to destroy your reputation.”
Julien Vincent, the executive director of Market Forces
After the Greyhound Australia email leak on January 6th, the company faced severe uproar from the climate-conscious public. And rightly so! Power really does reside in the people, and when we collectively come together we cannot be silenced. So, what exactly was this ‘uproar’?
The #StopAdani movement published the telephone numbers of the Greyhound Australia offices so people could call and express their views. They encouraged people to call, email, and post about their opposition to the project. Greyhound Australia stated that they “received numerous messages, emails and phone calls from people expressing their thoughts both for and against the Carmichael Rail Network and Adani Carmichael project”. It worked!
Also, days after the email leak, the group School Strike4Climate organised a #boycottgreyhound campaign. Greyhound busses are used by schools across Australia for excursions and as morning school-busses, ie. schools are big business for Greyhound. School Strike4Climate urged schools to cut ties with company…and many schools vowed they would not support Greyhound as long as the company worked with Adani. Varsha Yajman, a spokesperson for SchoolStrike4Climate said the decision by Greyhound not to extend their contract with Adani “shows that we can push companies to be part of the solution to climate change and consider the impact of their actions.”
What’s next?
So far, over 60 companies have refused to work with Adani. Many of these refusals were due to the public uproar that followed the announcement involvement. We know that people power works. Next, we need to harness our efforts to target other companies signing contracts with Adani.
Market Forces is a group that tracks the relationships between corporations and fossil fuel industries and makes them available to the public. On their website you can compare banks, insurance and superfund companies to find out which ones are investing in fossil fuels. You may unknowingly be investing your money into fossil fuels just by being with certain companies.
Siemens
In early December 2019, German technology company, Siemens signed a $30m contract with Adani to do signalling work for the Carmichael coal mine railway line. Siemens CEO, Joe Kaeser, recently outlined his stand on the project in a[n] (embarrassingly mis-informed) public statement. The statement made it clear that Kaeser knows/cares little about the Australian people’s stance on the mine; he was particularly mis-informed about the opinions of the indigenous community. Find a fact check of the speech here.
The whole deal has come into the cross-fire and generated uproar in Germany, Australia and across the world. Here’s what you can do:
- Tell Siemens they’ve made the wrong decision using the pre-made email on the Market Forces page here. All you have to do is fill in your name and email address, the email is already written out for you (although can edit as you like). The email will be sent to Siemens’ CEO Joe Kaeser.
- Share your voice on social media and spread the word: we don’t support Siemens and we don’t support Adani.
- Join a protest or blockade against Siemens involvement with Adani.
Travelling Without Footprints 