NSW coal update falls short of what science, families and regional communities need

Parents for Climate

Parents for Climate says the NSW Government’s updated coal position is a welcome sign that coal expansion cannot continue unchecked, but warns the changes are still too weak to meet the scale of the challenge facing families, workers and regional communities.

Parents for Climate said the government’s no-greenfield position is a step forward, but misses the mark because all major coal mining projects proposed in NSW are extensions and expansions not new mines on greenfield sites. The new policy still allows for extensions and expansions that will unleash billions of tonnes of climate pollution.

While formalising restrictions is a step forward, the Government is still failing to provide the science-based, long-term certainty New South Wales needs: an end to coal mine extensions and expansions, and a funded plan to prepare communities properly for the global decline in coal demand.

The response comes after the NSW Net Zero Commission found the state is not on track to meet its 2030 and 2035 emissions targets and that continued extensions or expansions of coal mining are not consistent with the Climate Change Act or the Paris temperature goals. The Commission also found NSW needs to prepare for declining thermal coal demand and support a just and orderly transition for affected communities and regional economies.

Nic Seton, CEO of Parents for Climate said, “It is welcome to see the NSW Government finally formalise some limits on otherwise endless coal expansion. But this update still stops short of the clear-eyed leadership New South Wales needs.

“You cannot claim to be protecting communities while still supporting more mine extensions, more climate pollution and more delay to economic diversification. That is not long-term certainty. That is hedging between the coal lobby and the best interests of NSW families.

“The science is not ambiguous here. NSW’s own Net Zero Commission has made clear that continued coal mine extensions and expansions are inconsistent with the state’s climate targets. Families deserve policy grounded in evidence, intergenerational fairness and the best interests of the people of New South Wales, not a strategy that pretends coal can keep stretching on indefinitely.

“What families in New South Wales need is honesty and a plan. We need a fair phase-out of thermal coal, real support for workers and regional communities, and serious investment in the industries that can carry those communities forward.

“Parents are already paying for climate pollution through worsening disasters, extreme heat, rising household pressure and the growing costs of an unstable climate. Every year of delay makes the eventual transition harder on communities and harder on our kids.

“In 2026, continuing to sign off on coal expansion is not a plan for prosperity. It is a betrayal of the young people who will inherit the consequences, and of the regional communities who deserve more than false promises.”

“The real job of government is not to manage the politics of coal for another news cycle .It is to tell the truth, follow the science, and help communities navigate change with dignity, honesty and a better future,” Seton said.

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