Australia ratified the Paris Agreement in November 2015, pledging to reduce emissions by 26–28 percent based on 2005 levels by 2030. The very next month, the government approved the biggest ever coal mine proposal in the face of severe protests that it can have disastrous effects on the environment. In fact, the country’s Environment Minister was found lobbying with the US for the coal mine during the 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference.