Overview
- The High Court is considering MACH Energy’s bid to overturn a ruling that blocked a 22‑year extension of the Mount Pleasant open‑cut mine in NSW.
- At issue is whether state planning law requires decision‑makers to assess downstream or Scope 3 emissions, which are released when exported coal is burned.
- The NSW Court of Appeal found in July 2025 that approval was unlawful because the planning commission failed to consider climate impacts on the locality from those emissions.
- The extension would run operations to 2048, with estimates of an extra 444 million tonnes of coal and about 870 million tonnes of CO2, with Scope 3 accounting for roughly 98% of total emissions and about 0.065% of global annual emissions.
- DAMSHEG, a local group led by residents Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan and backed by expert bodies, argues planners must consider local climate harms, while MACH Energy says the law imposes no such duty and the decision remains pending.