Australian justice gives reason to the Minister of the Environment in the face of teenagers
A climate march in Australia.
William WEST / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The duty of the Minister of the Environment to protect children from global warming, pronounced a year ago by the Australian justice, was canceled by the Court of Appeal.
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With our correspondent in Sydney
,
Gregory Plesse
For Sussan Ley, Australia's Environment Minister, protecting children from the effects of climate change is not part of her job.
And the court of appeal agreed with him on Monday by annulling the judgment rendered a year ago.
Eight teenagers had sued the Minister for the Environment
to prevent her from authorizing the expansion of a coal mine in New South Wales.
The expansion had been authorized but justice had meant that the Ministry of the Environment
had to take into account the safety of children in the face of global warming
in its decisions.
The judgment was to set a precedent and was celebrated as historic as members of government would be held accountable for their decisions and the impact they could have on climate change.
“
We need climate action to be safe
”
But Monday's cancellation of the judgment by the Court of Appeal puts a stop to this legal question.
To the chagrin of David Ritter, the president of Greenpeace in Australia.
He notes, however, that the court recognized the reality of climate change, and the risks it poses to the population: “
This decision confirms that the threat is very real.
Except that unfortunately, the Australian government continues to do nothing to dismiss
it,” he said.
The eight teenagers behind this appeal are also disappointed.
Among them, Izzy Raj Seppings notes that, having failed to win the case in court, the avalanche of natural disasters opened the eyes of many Australians: "
Two years ago, Australia was in fire.
Today we are underwater.
I believe more and more Australians are realizing that this is not healthy for our country, our economy and ourselves.
We need climate action to be safe in our environment, to live healthy and to thrive
.”
For this 15-year-old girl, there is no doubt that the climate issue will be at the heart of the next federal election scheduled for May.
But this will not necessarily be the case for Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister.
On Monday evening, he said he wanted the country's coal-fired power stations to continue operating for as long as possible.
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