The High Court has upheld the refusal of the NSW Independent Planning Commission’s Mount Pleasant Coal approval on the grounds that the scope 3 or downstream emissions, the burning of the coal wherever that is, were not properly assessed, despite making up 98% of the development’s projected impacts.
The IPC’s recent HVO coal approval is also made up of 98% scope 3 emissions and is likely to run into significant legal difficulty following this decision.
Greens MP, spokesperson for Climate Change and Planning and public interest environmental lawyer, Sue Higginson said,
“The High Court have exposed the New South Wales coal approval process for the sham it is, and declared that new coal cannot be approved when 98% of the climate pollution are ignored,
“The High Court have sided with the climate science and declared that the NSW Independent Planning Commission was wrong to ignore downstream emissions when approving a massive new coal project,
“What an incredible moment in time, that two retired school teachers who have lived and breathed big coal in the Hunter Valley for years and years, Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan have won the day. They are climate heroes and thanks to their incredible advocacy the Hunter Community will be spared from the horrific impacts of this proposal,
“Exactly the same as Mount Pleasant, 98% of the emissions from the recently approved Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) coal development are scope 3 emissions. HVO’s Environmental Impact Statement didn’t even account for scope 3 emissions at all, and the High Court has been crystal clear that consent authorities must ensure emissions are minimised to the greatest extent practicable. It seems clear that the approval of HVO fails this test,
“Lawyers should be running to the Courts right now with this judgement in hand, ready to stop coal approvals in their tracks,
“The Minns Labor Government has been confronted once again with the legal and scientific reality that new coal is not consistent with our climate targets and laws. Labor Premier Chris Minns should stand up to his ‘good friend’ Stephen Galilee and rule out any new coal approvals in NSW,” Ms Higginson said.
