13/05/2026
This is a Big Deal - Nannas were there supporting this landmark case! Insta vid in comments!@ Knitting Nannas in the MUD
Australia’s first climate case to reach the High Court —
TOMORROW, 13 May 2026, the High Court of Australia will hear the nation's first ever climate change case to reach our highest court—a landmark moment that will set a binding national precedent on whether Australian planning authorities are legally required to consider the local climate impacts of fossil fuel project approvals.
The case, MACH Energy Australia Pty Ltd v Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group Inc (DAMS HEG), was brought by a grassroots Hunter Valley community group challenging the approval of a major expansion of the Mount Pleasant open-cut coal mine near Muswellbrook. The NSW Court of Appeal ruled unanimously in July 2025 that the mine's approval was unlawful — finding that planning authorities are legally required to consider the specific local climate impacts of a project's downstream emissions. MACH Energy is asking the High Court to overturn that ruling.
The case arrived at an extraordinary moment. Just 12 hours before the NSW Court of Appeal's ruling, the International Court of Justice in The Hague delivered its own landmark advisory opinion, finding that fossil fuel-exporting nations bear legal responsibility under international law for the climate harm their exports cause. Australia had argued to the ICJ that it bore no such responsibility for emissions from its coal and gas exports. The ICJ rejected that argument.
Four of the world's leading climate law and science institutions have been granted leave to intervene in the High Court in support of DAMS HEG — from the Universities of Cambridge, Columbia and Melbourne, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. The case is being watched internationally as a test of whether domestic law can hold fossil fuel producers accountable for the local consequences of dangerous climate change.
Photo - Mount Pleasant Coal Mine
