Yesterday’s approval of an extension to the by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has been condemned by environmental group Nature Conservation Council NSW (NCC) and Greens MLC Sue Higginson.
The NCC has warned it pushes ‘the state recklessly toward climate chaos as another three big coal mines rush to expand their operations this year’.
‘If the planning authority continues [this] approach and approves all three additional coal mines, it would unleash more than 1 billion extra tonnes of climate pollution’.
They say the approval of the Chain Valley Consolidation Project on the Central Coast ‘will allow the mine to extend operations from its slated closure date in 2027 to 2029, to supply the Vales Point power station’.
NCC CEO, Jacqui Mumford said, ‘This is the first coal mine approval since the NSW Climate Change Act came into effect and is the first in an avalanche of coal projects seeking approval this year’.
‘If the planning authority approves the three other coal mines in the pipeline, it would unleash more than 1 billion extra tonnes of climate pollution at a time when we need to be cutting emissions rapidly. This is disastrous for everyone in NSW and globally.
‘Chain Valley releases huge amounts of methane gas from its shafts, in fact it is one of the most polluting coal mines in NSW.
‘The pollution from coal mines costs NSW residents enormously by causing extreme weather events and more intense bush fires.
‘It will get even worse if other coal mine expansions in the pipeline are approved. These three mines are some of the biggest coal mines ever proposed.
‘The Minns government needs to properly assess climate impacts and stop making the mistake of approving developments where the costs and harms outweigh the benefits.
‘It is unacceptable that a major climate polluter can extend their operations without committing to any genuine measures to reduce emissions.
‘We call on the NSW government to update planning guidance to ensure full consideration of lifecycle emissions and climate impacts in coal mine assessments in line with NSW and international law.’
Test the state’s climate laws
Meanwhile Greens MP, solicitor and spokesperson for Climate Change, Sue Higginson, said the mine’s extension ‘will test the state’s climate laws, after legal analysis from former Court of Appeal Justice John Basten KC revealed any new coal approvals risk being struck down by Courts due to their inconsistency with the state’s binding 2050 emissions reduction target’.
‘Last year, the state’s independent Net Zero Commission, in their Coal Mining Emissions Spotlight Report, found that new coal approvals would be inconsistent with both the Paris Agreement and New South Wales net zero by 2050 target.
‘The state’s top legal minds are clear that any new coal is inconsistent with the current law, it is therefore highly likely that if tested this coal approval would be declared unlawful.
‘When the Government introduced climate laws in 2023, the Greens ensured that they had a binding 2050 target, and the Net Zero Commission could make clear recommendations about that target. The Net Zero Commission has since been clear that any new coal would be inconsistent with the climate science and law.
‘I have no doubt that environmental defenders will be considering heading to the Courts right now, to uphold the climate and environmental laws of the state. If they do so they will rightly be armed with the Net Zero Commission’s report and more legal and scientific ammunition than ever before.
‘It’s reckoning time for the Minns Labor Government. You can’t claim to be a Government acting on climate, with strong climate laws, then approve new coal and expect to get away with it.’ Ms Higginson said.
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