Australian government has duty to protect youth from climate crisis, court finds Eight teens and nun (86) sought injunction to Government’s approval of coalmine plan
about 4 hours ago Adam Morton
Climate activists protest in Sydney over Government inaction on climate change. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
The federal court of Australia has found the environment minister, Sussan Ley, has a duty of care to protect young people from the climate crisis in a judgment hailed by lawyers and teenagers who brought the case as a world first.
Eight teenagers and an octogenarian nun had sought an injunction to prevent Ms Ley approving a proposal by Whitehaven Coal to expand the Vickery coalmine in northern New South Wales, arguing the minister had a common law duty of care to protect younger people against future harm from climate change.
Politicians have duty of care to protect children from climate harm, court finds
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A million Australian children will be hospitalised at least once in their life for heat stress and the Great Barrier Reef will die along with the east coast’s eucalyptus forests should climate change not be halted, a federal court judge has said in a case brought against Environment Minister Sussan Ley by eight school students.
The court found that Ms Ley had a duty of care to protect them and the environment from the impacts of climate change, but dismissed their application to have her blocked by injunction from granting an extension to a coal mine as a result.
Australian court says mine approvals must consider climate yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Federal Court has ruled that Environment Minister
Sussan Ley has a duty of care to protect young people and future generations from climate change, and it’s all thanks to the efforts of eight Aussie high schoolers who acted on behalf of young people everywhere.
The landmark court case was launched last year, and while the teens weren’t able to stop the expansion of Whitehaven Coal’s Vickery mine in northern NSW like they first set out to do, the ruling we
did end up with is still a world-first and has set a massive precedent for climate justice in Australia.