In Short
The Situation: In a landmark judgment, on 27 May 2021, the Federal Court of Australia ruled in
Sharma v Minister for the Environment [2021] FCA 560 (
Sharma) that, when deciding whether or not to grant approval to a coal mine development, the Federal Minister for the Environment owed a duty of care to all children under the age of 18 who ordinarily reside in Australia to avoid causing them personal injury as a consequence of increased carbon dioxide emissions.
The Result: The finding that government decision-makers owe a duty of care to Australian children to protect them from harms caused by climate change breaks new legal ground in Australia. If