Media release

47 Experts Urge NSW Government to Defend NSW Law and Climate

The open letter signed by 47 experts co-ordinated and published by the Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program and complete list of signatories is reproduced in full below. View full media release here.

An open letter to the Government of New South Wales

Allowing new coal mines in NSW is incompatible with the NSW Government’s commendable climate policy aimed at achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. It is also incompatible with reaching targets required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change agreed to under the Paris Agreement.

We strongly urge the NSW Government not to cave in to pressure from coal lobbyists to overrule NSW laws that require the full climate impact to be considered in the assessment of new coal mines. These include the important legal precedent of the Land and Environment Court in the Rocky Hill case, and State Environmental Planning Policy requirements to consider emissions from burning coal mined in NSW (Scope 3 emissions), which are the main source of emissions from coal mined in NSW.

We also strongly urge the Government to defend its own Independent Planning Commission against unwarranted and misleading attacks.

NSW is already experiencing serious impacts of climate change including increasing extreme heat and longer, hotter fire seasons. The hotter conditions and more extreme heatwaves driven by climate change are worsening the impacts of drought. These impacts of climate change are being made worse by emissions from coal mined in NSW. These mines add around 500 million tonnes of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere every year, almost as much as Australia’s entire domestic emissions

Signatories:

*Professor Peter Doherty AC*	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1996; Australian of the Year 1997; Laureate Professor,
*Professor Tim Flannery*	Councillor, Climate Council; Australian of the Year 2007; Sustainability, Melb;
*Professor Lesley Hughes*	Distingushed Professor of Biology Macquarie University; Climate Council Councillor
*Professor Hilary Bambrick*	Head of School, Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology
*Professor Tilman Ruff AO*	Nossal Institute for Global Health, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
*Dr Peter Tait*	Convener Ecology and Environment Group, Public Health Association of Australia
*Associate Professor Shauna Murray*	Climate Change Cluster (C3), University of Technology, Sydney
*Professor Rob Moodie AM*	Deputy Head and Professor of Public Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
*Professor Mark Wahlqvist AO*	Emeritus Professor, former Professor and Head of Medicine at Prince Henry’s Hospital and Monash Medical Centre
*Professor John Quiggin*	VC Senior Research Fellow, School of Economics, University of Queensland
*Adjunct Professor Shilu Tong*	Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health and Social Work Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation Queensland University of Technology
*Professor Rick Cavicchioli*	School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences UNSW
*Professor Will Steffen*	Emeritus Professor, Australian National University and Councillor, Climate Council of Australia.
*Tim Forcey*	Energy consultant, former AEMO Gas Principal, International Gas Industry Engineer Exxon, Esso BHP
*Associate Professor Peter Sainsbury*	Sydney Medical School, University of Notre Dame
*Ian Dunlop*	Former senior executive Royal Dutch Shell; former Chairman of the Australian Coal Association; former CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors; chairman the original Australian Government Greenhouse Office Experts Group on Emissions Trading
*Professor John Church*	Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales
*Professor Steven Sherwood*	ARC Laureate Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, UNSW Climate Change Research Centre
*Professor Michael Ashley*	Professor of Astrophysics, University of New South Wales
*Adjunct Professor Howard Bamsey AM*	Honorary Professor,School of Regulation and Global Governance – RegNet, Australian National University
*Professor Ian Lowe AO FTSE*	Emeritus Professor, Science, Technology and Society, Griffith University
*Dr Hugh Saddler*	Honorary Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
*Dr Brett Murphy*	Senior Research Fellow, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University
*Fiona Armstrong*	Founder and Executive Director, Climate and Health Alliance, Board Member, Global Climate and Health Alliance
*Professor Peter Dart*	Honorary Associate Professor, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences University of Queensland
*Dr David Holmes*	Director, Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub, Monash University
*Dr Martin Rice*	Head of Research, The Climate Council of Australia, Honorary Associate, Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University
*Professor John Wiseman*	Prof Research Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, Energy Transition Research Hub and Climate and Energy College, The University of Melbourne
*Dr David Shearman AM*	Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Adelaide
*Professor Andy Pitman*	Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, University of New South Wales
*Ben Oquist*	Executive Director, The Australia Institute
*Richie Merzian*	Climate & Energy Program Director, The Australia Institute
*Dr Liz Hanna*	Chair, Environmental Health Working Group, World Federation of Public Health Associations
*Dr Bill Hare*	CEO and Managing Director/ Senior Scientist, Climate Analytics
*Associate Professor Gavin Mudd*	Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University
*Professor Philip Jennings*	Emeritus Professor of Physics and Energy Studies, Murdoch University
*Professor Katrin Meissner*	Director, Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales
*Professor Hans Lambers*	Emeritus Professor at The University of West Australia; Adjunct Professor at Curtin University, Distinguished Professor at China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
*Tim Buckley*	Director of Energy Finance Studies, Australasia, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis,
*Bruce Robertson*	Investment Analyst, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
*Professor Matthew England*	Scientia Professor, Climate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales
*Professor Jeremy Moss*	Professor of Political Philosophy, Director, Practical Justice Initiative, University of New South Wales
*Professor Robert Brooks*	Scientia Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales..
*Greg Mullins AO*	Former Commissioner, Fire and Rescue NSW
*Professor Karen Hussey*	Director, Centre for Policy Futures, University of Queensland
*Greg Bourne*	Councillor, the Climate Council, Former Regional President BP Australasia
*Dr John Van Der Kallen*	Rheumatologist, Conjoint Lecturer, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle

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The Australia Institute

NSW Government must defend law and climate from coal industry attacks

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