This Tuesday, an Australian court began hearing the case of eight young men and a nun against the country’s Environment Minister Susan LeBron. Coal mining expansion Consider that the government has an obligation to protect the health of young people from the impact of climate change.

The class action case will be heard by the Melbourne Federal Court between March 2-5, and on March 12, at the end Opposes expansion of Vickery Mine, 333 kilometers northwest of Sydney.

If the expansion is approved, the project will emit burning fossil fuels 370 million tons of carbon over the next 25 yearsThis equates to 70% of Australia’s domestic emissions in 2019.

The mining expansion will provide a net benefit of $ 869 million to the state of New South Wales Creating about 950 jobs, The Australian company said Whitehaven Coal, In charge of the project.

If the court accepts that the duty of the Minister to protect the youth from emissions is to prevent the approval of the expansion of the mine, she The failure could have an impact on other projects related to fossil fuels In Australia, according to the firm Equity Generation Lawyers, which represents teenagers.

Legal challenge presented in court in September 2020 Led by activist Anjali Sharma, 17, And other students from the school strike 4 climate student movement.

The coalition has organized several protests in recent years demanding that the Australian government take over Emergency measures against climate crisis.