The infringement of Indigenous Australian rights has been central to the development of the Carmichael coal mine. The facility has been built on the land of the Wangan and Jagalingou peoples, who strongly opposed the project. In 2018, an Australian court quashed a case brought against Adani’s plans by the Wangan and Jagalingou peoples. In August 2019, it was revealed that the Queensland government had granted Adani exclusive possession freehold title over the land in question, without any public consultation. This decision effectively made Wangan and Jagalingou protestors trespassers on what is considered to be their traditional lands.

Colossal carbon dioxide emissions will follow as Carmichael’s coal reserves are steadily extracted and burned. The mine produces 10 million tonnes of coal per year, making it responsible for emitting an estimated 20 million tonnes of CO2. If the mine fulfils its potential, output would increase to 60 million tonnes of coal per year.

In 2015, The Australia Institute think tank calculated that, if and when Carmichael produces 60 million tonnes of coal per year, it will have higher annual emissions than Bangladesh. In 2017, the Climate Council of Australia reported that the country must not develop any new thermal coal mines if Australia’s commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement are to be achieved.

Vital habitat is being lost to make way for the Carmichael project’s sprawl. If the mine reaches full capacity it will cover 44,700 hectares, including 20,000 of bushland that sustains threatened species. For example, 16,000 hectares of endangered black-throated finch habitat has already been impacted or destroyed and in April 2022, conservationists accused Adani of failing to respect its habitat offsetting commitments.

Significant local groundwater drawdown threatens an array of habitats and animals. A Great Artesian Basin discharge spring wetland called Doongmabulla Springs will be impacted, which hosts endemic and threatened plant species that may not survive without it. In 2021, a scientific paper authored by Adelaide’s Flinders University concluded that the hydrogeology of this wetland was still not adequately understood, which puts it at risk of irreversible decline.

Necessary for the mine’s operations, this drawdown is expected to impact groundwater-dependent species and communities along the Carmichael River, such as red river gum trees that provide koala habitat. The ‘Water Resources’ chapter of the Carmichael coal mine’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) states “riparian vegetation, particularly the stands of mature River Red Gum and Paper Bark tree communities, may be potentially impacted by a reduction in the direct groundwater discharges underlying the river and discharge from the Doongmabulla Springs. Any significant reduction in groundwater levels and or surface water flows in the Carmichael River [...] has the potential to impact on the health of these communities.” The EIS failed to analyse this impact, instead suggesting “ongoing monitoring [...] to quantify the magnitude of these impacts.”

The draining of water sources in the wider area is necessary for the Carmichael project. In June 2018, Adani stated its intentions to take 10 billion litres of water from the Suttor River for the mine, necessitating a dam and pipeline. Approximately 300 kilometres east of the North Galilee Basin, the area surrounding the Sutton River was experiencing a drought at the time. Adani claimed an EIS was unnecessary for this proposal however, because it was not covered by a Federal water trigger. Such tactics raised the question of whether or not Australia’s development approvals system is adequately equipped to protect the environment.

The erosion of state authority and environmental protections is a long-established Adani hallmark. Adani's flagship project is the largest private port in India, Mundra in Gujarat. Adani deliberately concealed and falsified material facts during Mundra’s application process. Construction began illegally and multiple violations of the development approvals included the mass clearing of mangroves.

In 2020, Adani pled guilty to giving 'false or misleading documents’ to Queensland's environmental regulator and was fined AUD 20,000.