Recent Developments in Australian Climate Change Litigation: Forward Momentum from Down Under

Abstract

Professor Bach and co-author Justin Brown chart new developments in climate change litigation in Recent Developments in Australian Climate Change Litigation: Forward Momentum From Down Under. Even though Australia is the fourth largest coal producer and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases on a per capita basis, record drought conditions and a new prime minister elected in the world’s first climate change election have created the conditions for a new view of climate change. In the past five years, Australian conservation foundations have spearheaded a grassroots movement to use the courts as a tool for climate change reform. This article explores several major recent decisions, analyzing how key environmental statutes have been interpreted to require recognition of global and intergenerational accountability for Australia’s coal industry