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Australian Conservation Foundation Incorporated v Minister for the Environment and Energy - decision

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The Australian Conservation Foundation Incorporated filed a judicial review challenge in a suit against the Minister for the Environment and Energy and Adani over the development of a coal mine in the lower suit. The ACF appealed the decision dismissing the judicial review challenge. Adani proposed to develop and operate a coal mine and associated infrastructure in Central Queensland. The ACF alleged error by the Minister in failing to determine the impact of combustion emissions on the Great Barrier Reef under s 527E of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The Minister had approved the coal mine project on October 14, 2015. 
The Act requires consideration of the proposal in connection with, among other things, its effects upon the environment. There is a prohibition upon the taking of action that has, will have, or is likely to have a significant impact on the environment. The ACF claimed that the Minister made an error of law in failing to consider the effect of emissions from transport by rail, shipping, and combustion of the product coal overseas, in characterising these emissions as “not a direct consequence of the proposed action,” and in failing to consider or apply the precautionary principle in relation to the possible impacts on relevant matters of national environmental significance. The court upheld the lower court’s findings that the Minister’s reasons reflected a proper discharge of his statutory duty in a judgement issued on August 25, 2017.

However, in a judgement issued December 15, 2017, the Court accepted that matters concerning the Reef and climate change were important to Australians. It ordered that the appellant pay each respondent’s costs of the appeal.


Australian Conservation Foundation Incorporated v Minister for the Environment and Energy

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Action or measure that increases resilience of societal, cultural and natural heritage to climate change impacts.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Australian Conservation Foundation Incorporated v Minister for the Environment and Energy - decision

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance