Global engineering company Siemens will not pull out of a contract at the new Adani coalmine in Australia...

President and CEO of Siemens, Joe Kaeser, announced Monday that after reviewing the rail signalling contract the company had “a legally binding and enforceable fiduciary responsibility.” ...

He said the company, based in Germany, “should have been wiser about this project beforehand” ...

Campaigners said the decision was “shameful” and would damage its reputation and undermine its own climate policies. Siemens says it is one of the first companies to have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030...

In the statement, he said the project was also “approved” by the indigenous Wangan and Jagalingou people which was “very important to us”.

That approval is strongly disputed by a group of Wangan and Jagalingou people...

An Adani spokesperson said: “We are pleased to be working with Siemens as the company is known for its exceptional experience in building rail signalling infrastructure around the world.

“With construction of the Carmichael Project well and truly under way we have repeatedly demonstrated that we will not be intimidated or deterred from delivering on our promises to regional Queenslanders, Australians and people in developing nations who desperately need affordable energy to help lift them out of poverty.”