Bunbury student Bella Burgemeister among teens who won climate change class action against Federal Government

A Bunbury teenager has been one of the driving forces behind a landmark climate case that saw the Federal Court rule that the Federal Environment Minister has a duty of care not to cause young Australians harm from climate change. Bella Burgemeister launched a class action in September alongside seven other teenagers across Australia to prevent Whitehaven Coal from expanding its Vickery Coal Project in New South Wales. The students, aged 13 to 17, argued Federal Minister Sussan Ley had a duty of care to young people that she would breach by allowing the extension. If approved, it would increase the coal extracted by 33 million tonnes and result in 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions over the next 25 years. While the court agreed the Minister had a duty of care to protect young Australians from climate harm when approving projects, it dismissed the application for an injunction preventing the expansion. Bella said the legal victory was the first time such a duty of care had been recognised, but it remained an ongoing fight. “It’s powerful to feel you can make a difference,” Bella said. “We can’t vote, so being able to still have a say in politics is important. “Marching on the streets doesn’t always work, so using the courts is another way of taking action.” The 15-year-old said it was exciting to be involved with the Australia-first ruling. “We’re already seeing the devastating impacts of climate change ... it’s going to continue to affect us and young people around the world,” she said. “This is helping us build a case, it could be a trial run to maybe build up and stop the expansion of other coal mines in Australia.” Bella said the case had helped start a bigger discussion, with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg acknowledging the ruling on Twitter. “This is a huge win for the whole climate movement,” Greta wrote. “A big congratulations to the brave Australian teenagers who have achieved this. Of course the action needed is still nowhere in sight, but these court cases are symbolic breaking points that could have huge snowball effects.” Whitehaven Coal welcomed the court judgment in a statement, saying: “our consistent position has been that this legal claim was without merit.”