This week a letter from the Sydney Knitting Nannas was sent to Paul Scully, NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces with copies to both state and federal Environment Ministers about approvals for new coal mines and expansions, and Australia’s responsibility for Scope 3 emissions.
Dear Ministers,
The Sydney Knitting Nannas and Friends are committed to the Australian achievement of real zero emissions from fossil fuel mining and use. We believe this is the only way to ensure a safe future environment for our children and grandchildren. Our group of 70 senior women across Greater Sydney has links to many regional areas. There are 20 Knitting Nannas groups across NSW and 20 more in other states.
You are no doubt aware that the International Energy Agency, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations have all declared unequivocally that there can be no new approvals of coal, oil or gas projects if the world is to meet the climate targets agreed at the 2015 Paris climate summit, targets to which Australia is a signatory.
We understand from recent press reporting that the NSW State Government will consider applications to expand EIGHT coal mining operations in NSW in 2023. While these are not new projects per se, the proposed expansions clearly fall within what is meant by the IPCC, the IEA and the Secretary-General when they state that there can be no new approvals of coal projects.
If these proposed expansions go ahead, the coal produced from them, when burnt, will add 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 to global GHG emissions. 1.2 billion of those will be produced from one proposed project alone, the expansion of the Glencore/Yancoal Hunter Valley Operations coal mine.
Ministers, you will also be aware that the emissions from Australia’s coal exports – known as Scope 3 emissions – have been the subject of important legal decisions, first by the Chief Judge of the New South Wales Land and Environment Court, Brian Preston, in the “Rocky Hill” case and more recently by Justice Fleur Kingham, the President of the Queensland Land Court in a decision relating to the Galilee Basin. While we recognise that legal proceedings may not arise from these eight new NSW proposals, the principle stated by Justice Kingham was crucially important for the whole of Australia. This is that Scope 3 emissions from Australian exported coal – even if they are emitted overseas – are still Australia’s responsibility.
Justice Kingham’s statements were made when rejecting an application by Waratah Coal to open up what would be Australia’s largest thermal coal mine in the Galilee Basin, on the grounds that burning the coal would generate 1.58 gigatonnes of emissions, thus making a “material contribution” to the world’s remaining carbon budget and “limit[ing] the options to achieve the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement”.
Justice Kingham explicitly rejected Waratah Coal’s assertion that, because the coal from the mine would be exported to countries overseas, “the emissions in generating electricity [from the coal] will be the responsibility of those countries”, and were therefore not relevant to the case.
“Granting permission to mine the coal” she stated in her reasons, “cannot be logically separated from the coal being used to generate electricity. This case is about Queensland coal, mined in Queensland, and exported from Queensland to be burnt in power stations to generate electricity. Wherever the coal is burnt the emissions will contribute to environmental harm, including in Queensland.”
This ruling strikes at the heart of an argument often used in previous cases by mining companies – and state and Federal governments – that Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from our fossil fuel exports are not Australia’s responsibility.
We therefore call on you to rule out any further expansions. It will make a significant contribution to preventing further global temperature rise, thereby reducing the costs of responding to increased frequency and severity of natural disasters like flood and fire, and overall will safeguard the lives and livelihoods of the future citizens of NSW.
Please inform us of your intended actions to prevent these proposed coal mine expansions taking place.
Yours sincerely
Heather Goodall, Professor Emerita, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
University of Technology Sydney
On Behalf of the Sydney Knitting Nannas and Friends.
Cc The Hon. Penny Sharpe, NSW Minister for Heritage and the Environment
Cc The Hon. Tanya Plibersek, MP, Federal Minister for the Environment and Water.