An Australian court has overturned a "world first" ruling that said the Government must protect young people from climate change.
The case was brought by eight school children and a nun last year, seeking a court order to stop expansion plans for a coal mine in New South Wales.
The group successfully argued the Morrison Government needed to consider the health of young citizens over the profits of coal and gas companies.
The historic judgement effectively placed into law that Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, had a duty of care to protect Australian children from climate harm.
When handing down the initial ruling, Justice Modecai Bromberg reportedly said the minister has a duty “to take reasonable care” to “avoid causing personal injury or death” to Australian residents under 18 “arising from emissions of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere”.
However, Minister Ley pushed back on the ruling, saying there was grounds for an appeal.
Today, the full bench of Australia’s Federal Court agreed with her and overturned the decision.
According to the Guardian, the court said that while the initial ruling was fair, the duty of care shouldn’t rest with the environment minister.
The decision has already been labelled “extremely disappointing” by supporters, with climate writer Ketan Joshi saying he was “very angry.”
“There's going to be huge celebrations from Whitehaven coal, from the coal mining industry in general, and all of their fully paid-up advocates in politics, from both major parties in Australia.”
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