Contributed from Queensland

More than 50 religious leaders have banded together to urge Adani to abandon its Queensland coal project and invest in renewable energy instead.

The group includes Christian ministers, rabbis, nuns, ordained Buddhists and imams from across Australia. They have put their names to a letter that has been delivered to Adani’s headquarters in Townsville.

Signatories include Muslims Australia President Dr Rateb Jneid, Anglican Dean of Brisbane Dr Peter Catt and Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black.

Adani’s $16.5 billion coal mining and rail project has generated widespread opposition, because of its contribution to carbon emissions, destruction of Aboriginal land and farming, impact on the water supply, and the significant threat it poses to the Great Barrier reef.

Regardless of all this, the Australian government has Given Adani the go ahead.

“Protecting our common home and all those who live here is an essential part of each of our faiths,”said the letter to company chairman Gautam Adani.

The leaders oppose all new coal mining in the Galilee Basin, with fears it could impact on water supplies, climate change and the Great Barrier Reef.

Adani has argued the $16.5 billion Carmichael mine would be a boon for jobs in struggling areas of regional Queensland. This is hotly disputed by opponents, who argue that it will damge other parts of the economy and that the number of promised jobs is greatly exaggerated, because this is a capital intensive industry.

The religious leaders said they also supported local jobs and has called for an increased investment in renewable energy like solar, saying” Coal communities need serious investment to make the transition from the dirty energy of the past to the clean energy of the future.”

The religious leaders said they also supported local jobs and has called for an increased investment in renewable energy like solar. “Coal communities need serious investment to make the transition from the dirty energy of the past to the clean energy of the future,” the letter said.