Gray v. Minister for Planning and Ors

Summary:

This case dealt with a challenge to the Minister’s approval of an Environmental Assessment (EA) of the proposed Anvil Hill Project coal mine, which was expected to produce about 10.5 million tons of thermal coal for domestic and foreign power plants annually for 21 years. That EA considered the mine’s expected Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, but not its Scope 3 emissions. The court declared that approval void on the grounds that it was at odds with the language of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (NSW) 1979 and with the principles of precaution and intergenerational equity—“the environmental assessment must be broad, as a matter of law.” These, contrary to the Minister’s view, warranted consideration of Scope 3 emissions given the circumstances of the mine and the sufficient degree of evident causation between its Scope 3 emissions and adverse environmental impacts in New South Wales.

At Issue: Consideration of Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions in EIA for planned coal mine