On the landmark Rocky Hill mine decision

Commenting on the landmark decision by the NSW Land and Environment Court today to reject the Rocky Hill coal mine project, Daniel Gocher, Director of Climate & Environment at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) said:

“For the first time, perhaps anywhere in the world, an Australian court has ruled against a fossil fuel project on the basis of the impact its emissions would have on our climate.

“Proponents of fossil fuel projects can no longer assume that the judiciary will rubber stamp these projects without giving due consideration to their impact on the climate.

“This decision calls into question the supposed value of all undeveloped fossil fuel reserves, which for the most part, form a large part of a company’s market value.

“It will have obvious flow-on effects for investors - it substantially readjusts the focus on the demand for fossil fuels to the supply side. Investors must now be asking how much of those reserves can realistically be developed in a carbon constrained world.

“Investors must escalate their demands on companies to reassess the viability of their strategies. Those that rely on the unending growth of the fossil fuel industry are no longer tenable.”

Media contact: Dan Gocher 0410 550 337