CBA no longer advising on Adani mine

CBA is a leading financier in the natural resources sector

Australia's Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is no longer offering financial advice on Indian company Adani's giant Queensland coal mine.

Financial experts said the move could make it harder for Adani to finance the A$16bn ($12bn, £8bn) project.

CBA's exit follows Tuesday's court decision overturning government approval for the mine on environmental grounds.

Adani has struggled to finance the combined rail, port and mine project.

The Carmichael mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin, initially approved by the government last year, would have been one of world's biggest coal mines.

The CBA confirmed to the BBC its advisory role had ceased but did not elaborate, citing client confidentiality.

A spokesperson for Adani said the Indian company terminated the mandate "on the basis of its own concerns over ongoing delays to a now five-year long approvals process here in Australia".

Australia is one of the world's biggest coal producers

"In the event the Commonwealth [government] approvals framework is not further undermined by activists seeking to exploit legal loopholes, enabling the project and the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment it would bring to be delivered, Adani would happily work with the bank in future," the spokesperson said.

A number of international banks have said they are not interested in funding the project, including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Global banks look to Australian lenders for their local knowledge so they can get a "feel for a project" before they endorse it, Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis's Tim Buckley told local media.

Mr Buckley said developed nations were "rapidly moving in the other direction, and saying the world's got to decarbonise", the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Threatened species

Critics challenged the decision to approve the mine in the Federal Court of Australia because of a range of environmental concerns.

The Court found on Tuesday that the environment minister had failed to heed advice about threats to two vulnerable animal species, the Yakka Skink and the Ornamental Snake.

The decision means the mine could not legally operate until fresh approval was granted, according to Sue Higginson, the principal solicitor for the Environmental Defenders Office in New South Wales.