Environment

A judge who signed off on a settlement in a class action against the  government by sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate risks said proving climate change posed a risk to government coffers may not be as difficult as the government has claimed.

A decision by federal environment minister Tanya Pibersek to greenlight the extension of two mega coal mines in NSW was “legally open” to her, a judge has ruled, despite acknowledging the “existential threat” of climate change. 

Agricultural giant Graincorp has hit back at a class action filed by rural Victorians who allege that a loud and foul-smelling oilseed factory run by the "high-handed" company has reduced the value of their homes and affected their health.

A traditional custodian has won her bid to halt seismic blasting for Woodside’s Scarborough gas project off the coast of Western Australia, in a legal challenge similar to one that put Santos’ $4.7 billion Barossa project on ice.

Woodside Energy has hit back at a bid to halt seismic blasting on its Scarborough gas project, claiming it undertook comprehensive consultation with Indigenous communities and that the project’s environmental risks were of “an acceptable level”. 

Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to greenlight the expansion of two mega coal mines in NSW was contrary to findings by the “entire community of climate scientists around the globe”, a court has heard. 

A traditional custodian has filed an application to block seismic testing on Woodside Energy’s Scarborough gas project until her legal challenge has been finally determined, in a case similar to the one that put Santos’ $4.7 billion Barossa project on ice.

A judge has blessed a $132.7 million settlement and a $33 million common fund order in a class action over toxic firefighting foam, saying he was “not vexed” by whether he had power to grant the funder’s payout despite the Full Court having reserved on the contentious issue. 

An environment group that alleges former treasurer Josh Frydenberg rejected advice from the climate change office on a high-rise apartment development on protected wetlands near Brisbane has won access to correspondence about the project.

A traditional custodian has taken Woodside Energy to court in a bid to halt offshore seismic blasting for its Scarborough gas project, in a legal challenge similar to one that put Santos’ $4.7 billion Barossa project on ice.