SYDNEY (CU)_Last month, a group of environmental campaigners failed to secure an injunction which sought to stop Australia’s Environment Minister Sussan Ley from approving the expansion of Whitehaven Coal’s Vickery mine in New South Wales. The application brought by a Catholic nun, on behalf of a group of teenagers, who claimed that the expansion of the mine would exacerbate climate change, was rejected by Federal Court Justice Mordecai Bromberg.
However, the same judge, on Thursday (8 July) ruled that when approving the expansion of the mine, the government must consider the risks that may be posed by the decision to young children as a result of climate change. Delivering his judgement at the Federal Court of Australia, Judge Bromberg noted that Minster Ley will be required to assess the consequences of the additional greenhouse gas emissions that would be generated by the expansion in NSW, a ruling which could set precedent for all fossil fuel projects in the country.
“The risk of harm that the minister must take reasonable care to avoid is personal injury or death to the children arising from the emission of carbon dioxide from the burning of coal extracted from the extension project,” he said in the judgment.
The ruling was welcome by many environmental campaigners particularly owing to the fact that Australia has often been criticised for the government’s insufficient commitment to climate action. This is mainly owing to the Pacific nation being a key producer of coal and liquefied natural gas in the global market. In the current fiscal year, the country’s earnings from energy and mining exports are projected to reach A$334 billion (S$337.5 billion). According government data, Australia’s emissions last year amounted to 499 million tonnes, and the planned expansion of the Vickery mine is expected to produce about an additional 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions over its lifespan.
