Last modified on Thu 8 Jul 2021 06.28 EDT
Australia’s federal court has formally declared the nation’s environment minister has a “duty to take reasonable care” that young people won’t be harmed or killed by carbon dioxide emissions if she approves a coalmine expansion, in a judgment that could have wider implications for fossil fuel projects.
In the federal court case, brought by eight schoolchildren and an octogenarian nun, Justice Mordecai Bromberg on Thursday also ordered the minister pay all costs.
The judge had indicated he would make a declaration during the case in May, when he rejected a request by the children to issue an injunction blocking Whitehaven Coal’s plans to expand its Vickery coalmine project near Boggabri, New South Wales.
But it’s hard to get on with the normal stuff when we know that, as young people, our future is existentially threatened.
We are destined to bear the brunt of global warming. I felt relieved to have that recognised by Bromberg, to hear him agree that climate change will cause catastrophic harm. Those were his exact words.
This judgment validated the vulnerability of young people like myself – passionate climate warriors, sure, but also always scared, disempowered and facing inconceivable futures that adults won’t have to live through.
Young people are more vulnerable to climate impacts. We can’t vote, we can’t run for elections. Instead we rely on adults to take care of the world we are going to inherit.
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