FAITH leaders and community groups have delivered an open letter to coal company CEOs requesting a stoppage of coal movement for World Environment Day on June 5.
The signatories include the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, Newcastle Anglican director of mission Archdeacon Rod Bower, Uniting Church ministers Reverend Rob Hanks, Reverend Allison Forrest and Reverend Alan Stuart, Amnesty International's Newcastle chapter, and climate advocacy group Rising Tide.
The group stated in the letter, which was delivered to the offices of Glencore and Yancoal on May 26, that a stoppage would be a "small but meaningful gesture".
"Peer-reviewed scientific research estimates that for every 400,000 tonnes of coal burnt (the quantity exported daily from Newcastle), 226 people will lose their lives this century due to the climate impacts of these emissions, such as heat-related deaths, flooding, famine and other climate-related impacts," the letter noted.
"Every year, the coal that your companies export via Newcastle is locking in over 82,000 deaths that would otherwise not occur over the coming century."
Amnesty International Newcastle chapter spokesperson Kevin Sweeney said the climate crisis was "the greatest emerging threat to human rights across the world, and burning coal is the greatest contributor".
"Climate impacts like prolonged drought and food shortages in sub-Saharan Africa, deadly heatwaves in Europe, and devastating floods in Pakistan and here in Australia are sadly only the start of the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding," he said.
"The world's top scientists are pleading for urgent action. We are calling on coal companies to pause for one day, as a reprieve for the planet and an opportunity to consider these heartbreaking human impacts."
Dr Di Rayson, one of the signatories and senior lecturer at Pacific Theological College in Fiji, said a stoppage was a chance to move beyond "hollow promises".
According to the letter, the group will hold a "climate justice vigil" near the rail line on Maitland Road at Sandgate from midnight on June 5, with a candlelight service at 6am.
The site has been the scene of several anti-coal protests over the years.
In April, 50 people were charged after activists stopped a train, climbed onto a wagon and began shovelling coal out of it.
To see more stories and read today's paper download the Newcastle Herald news app here.
