This morning financial analysts across India woke up to find a huge full-page ad aimed squarely at them, warning "don't sink your profits on the Great Barrier Reef." The Asian Financial Times carried a full page investor alert advertisement on behalf of Greenpeace, GetUp! and BANKTRACK, warning analysts that investing in the Indian conglomerate GVK/Rinehart Alpha mega mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin could be a minefield of risks.

The ad asks: Have you considered investing in new coal export projects in Australia? Then warns: National and international NGOs are vowing to fight these coal projects every step of the way, and then highlights key investment risks.
 
“The risks of delays to the Alpha mega coal project were on show this week as a political fracas broke out over a botched environmental approval process by the State Government”, said Julien Vincent, Greenpeace campaigner. “This and community opposition to the project are just two of a number of serious issues about which investors should be concerned.”

“While industry analysts are beginning to cast doubt over the viability of coal export projects in Australia, the United Nations World Heritage body has also warned about the devastating impact that the coal expansion could have on the Great Barrier Reef. Anyone thinking of investing in GVK/Gina Rinehart’s Alpha coal project would want to think long and hard if they want to be associated with this potential environmental and economic  disaster,” GetUp environmental campaign director Paul Oosting said.