Siemens to continue controversial contract with Australian coal mine

German engineering giant Siemens will honor a controversial contract to supply alarm systems for Australia's Adani coal mine, despite criticism for the project's alleged climatic implications.

“We just finished our extraordinary meeting ... We evaluated all the options and concluded that we must fulfill our contractual obligations,” said CEO Joe Keizer on Sunday evening.

He also pledged that Siemens, which supports the Paris climate agreement to curb carbon emissions, will create a body that will better "manage environmental issues in the future."

The contract decision, reportedly worth 20 million euros ($ 22m), comes as Australia deals with an unprecedented crisis fire that claimed at least 27 lives, destroyed over 2,000 homes, burned down millions of hectares of unique habitat and killed over a billion animals.

At the same time, a statement from the Australian Conservation Foundation, an environmental group, said: “Siemens's announcement that it will continue to work at the Adani coal mine while raging bushfires in Australia is nothing short of shameful. With this decision, the company showed its true goals. It has a climate change policy, but it's empty. "

Thermal coal is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. If burned, the Carmichael facility would release 700 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year for over 50 years.

Six more coal projects in the Galilee are pending approval and the next Carmichael is under consideration if Adani builds infrastructure to connect to the state's rail network.