- Write by:
-
Monday, March 1, 2021 - 10:19:35 PM
-
525 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - A class action against a coal mine extension that begins on Tuesday could make it more difficult for coal mines to be approved in Australia on the basis of intergenerational equity and climate change, if the claimants prove successful.
The landmark claim, by a group of eight teenagers from across Australia, begins on Tuesday in Melbourne’s Federal Court and is expected to last for five days, but a judgement may not be made for several months.
The students argue that Australia’s Environment Minister Susan Ley has a duty of care to protect them from climate change and the expansion of Whitehaven Coal’s Vickery coal mine in New South Wales state will contribute to climate change and endanger their future.
“In the community, there is an expectation that big coal mines like this do get approved at federal level and that is precisely the reason we are concerned,” said principal David Barnden of Equity Generation Lawyers.
“This is about emissions and the contribution to climate change, and harm to people who are children today.”
Ley’s office did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment, but she told local media she was unable to comment while a court case was underway.
The Vickery open-cut coal mine would produce mostly metallurgical coal for steel-making as well as some higher grade thermal coal and is waiting on final approval from the minister.
It would create 450 ongoing jobs during operations with a net A$1.2 billion ($930 million) state economic benefit, Whitehaven estimates.
“Our position in relation to the litigation…is that the legal claim has no merit and should be dismissed,” Managing Director and CEO Paul Flynn said in a statement.
“As the Australian economy starts to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, it is vital that major employment-generating investments in the economy are not delayed by legal claims that have no substance.”
Coal is Australia’s second-most valuable resource export, worth an estimated A$37 billion in the financial year to June, government figures show.
Climate change has been a divisive topic in Australia, one of the world’s largest per capita carbon emitters. The country’s conservative government has won successive elections on a platform of supporting Australia’s dominant fossil fuel sectors.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/611631
China’s steel industry is young compared to Europe’s, and its transition to net zero may be slower as it takes a ...
South African coal miner Exxaro Resources is considering potential deals to acquire copper and manganese assets as part ...
A Polish coal mine near the Czech border will be able to continue operating for now, the state news agency PAP reported ...
Activist investor Tribeca Investment Partners has called on Glencore to shift its primary listing from London to Sydney ...
Methane emissions from Indonesia’s expanding coal mining sector are significantly underreported, jeopardizing the ...
The United States and Canada announced Monday they have agreed to cooperate to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water ...
China is rapidly approaching peak coal consumption, but the fossil fuel’s role in helping to address energy security ...
New US sanctions on Moscow are more likely than previous ones to cut Indian imports of thermal coal from Russia because ...
In a South African first, a project funded by one of the country’s biggest coal mining companies has begun repopulating ...
No comments have been posted yet ...