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KEPCO Bylong Australia v. Independent Planning Commission and Bylong Valley Protection Alliance - decision

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KEPCO Bylong Australia v. Independent Planning Commission and Bylong Valley Protection Alliance - judgment

Filing Year For Action

On September 18, 2019, the Independent Planning Commission of New South Wales rejected KEPCO Bylong Australia's application to build the Bylong Valley coal mine on several grounds, including its contribution to climate change. The Commission's grounds of refusal included the failure to develop a plan to manage the Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project and the fact that "the distribution of costs and benefits over and beyond the life of the mine [was] temporally inequitable in that the economic benefits accrue to the current generation and the environmental, agricultural and heritage costs are borne by future generations."

KEPCO, a major Korean utility company, appealed the decision in the New South Wales Land and Environment Court on December 16, 2019. After the Commission declined to participate in the proceedings, the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance, a community group, successfully intervened and was joined as a second respondent.

On December 18, 2020, the Court rejected KEPCO's appeal, upholding the Independent Planning Commission's findings that the mine was contrary to the principles of ecologically sustainable development and would have problematic climate impacts.

On March 19, 2021, KEPCO subsequently submitted another appeal to the NSW Court of Appeal. On August 25, 2021, the Court dismissed the appeal. The Court found that the Commission had adequately found that KEPCO had not proposed to minimize GHG emissions and that the State Climate Change Policy concerning GHG emissions was applicable. 

On October 14, 2021, KEPCO applied for special leave to appeal the decision to the High Court in a final bid to overturn the refusal. The High Court declined to grant special leave, meaning KEPCO has exhausted all legal avenues to challenge the refusal. 


KEPCO Bylong Australia v. Independent Planning Commission and Bylong Valley Protection Alliance

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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

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

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.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

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.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

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

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

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

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

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

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

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.

KEPCO Bylong Australia v. Independent Planning Commission and Bylong Valley Protection Alliance - decision

Target

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance