Summary/Abstract
In this expert report, submitted in support of the New South Wales’ Minister for Planning’s denial of a coal mine permit, Professor Will Steffan assesses the impact of emissions from Australia’s coal mining sector on global climate change, and concludes, based on a “carbon budget” approach, that “[o]ver 90% of Australia’s coal reserves cannot be burned to be consistent with the Paris accord 2° target.”
The underlying case, Gloucester Resources Limited v. Minister for Planning, arose when, on December 19, 2017, Gloucester Resources Limited sued the Minister of Planning for New South Wales, Australia, appealing the denial of the company’s application to construct an open cut coal mine in New South Wales, the Rocky Hill Coal Project, which proposed to produce 21 million tonnes of coal over a period of 16 years. For more information about this case, visit the Sabin Center’s Climate Litigation Database.
Note: This climate attribution research was presented in the context of a contested legal proceeding. Different countries, courts, and legal forums may have different standards for expert testimony, and may conduct fact-finding based on legal standards of proof that differ from those applied in academic publishing. Readers should independently investigate and understand the bases for the assertions made in this document before applying this research in other contexts.