"Australian court finds government has duty to protect young people from climate crisis", 27 May 2021

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 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.

Justice Mordecai Bromberg found the minister had a duty of care to not act in a way that would cause future harm to younger people. But he did not grant the injunction as he was not satisfied the minister would breach her duty of care.

David Barnden, a lawyer representing the children, said it was a historic and “amazing decision” with potentially significant consequences...

Whitehaven Coal had a different interpretation of the judgment. In a statement to the stock exchange, it did not mention the duty of care finding, and said it welcomed the court dismissing the teenagers’ attempt to block Ley from approving the mine extension...

...17-year-old Ava Princi said it was “thrilling and deeply relieving” that the justice had recognised the minister had a duty of care...She said though an injunction was not granted the case was “not over yet”. “There will be further submissions on what the duty of care means for the minister’s decision and the mine,” she said.

A spokesman for Ley said the government was considering the judgment and would have “more to say in due course”, but noted it rejected the application for an injunction against the minister to prevent her making a final decision on the mine extension...

In his judgment, Bromberg said the evidence presented to the court showed the potential harm the children could face due to global heating “may fairly be described as catastrophic, particularly should global average surface temperatures rise to and exceed 3C beyond the pre-industrial level”...