澳大利亚高等法院首审气候案件 支持社区团体阻止煤矿扩建
2026年10月7日，澳大利亚高等法院就一起煤矿扩建争议作出裁决，驳回矿业公司MACH Energy的上诉，维持阻止其Mount Pleasant煤矿扩建的决定。据路透社报道，这是澳大利亚最高法院审理的第一起气候变化案件，裁决被认为将影响今后新南威尔士州化石燃料项目的审批方式。
Mount Pleasant煤矿位于悉尼西北的猎人谷地区，现定于今年12月停产。公司原计划将矿山寿命延长二十年至2048年、把产量翻倍，多开采4.06亿吨煤炭，扩建获批后它将成为新南威尔士州最大的露天煤矿。州独立规划委员会2022年批准了该扩建，当地居民组成的社区团体随即提起诉讼，并先在州上诉法院胜诉。
高等法院法官詹姆斯·埃德尔曼在判词中指出，该矿98%的温室气体排放属于煤炭出口后在海外燃烧产生的范围三排放，规划委员会当年只考虑了其余2%，未能论证是否应施加条件、把排放降至切实可行的最低程度，因此构成理由上的失误。法院同时判令公司承担诉讼费用。
提起诉讼的社区团体由猎人谷当地居民组成。环保与法律界人士表示，裁决确立了审批机构必须认真考虑项目全部气候影响的原则；矿业方与州政府如何调整后续项目审批与条件设置，将是接下来市场与社区关注的重点。
Australia's Top Court Backs Community Group in Landmark Climate Case Over Coal Mine
Australia's High Court ruled on 7 October 2026 in a dispute over a coal mine expansion, dismissing an appeal by MACH Energy and upholding a decision blocking the extension of its Mount Pleasant mine. Reuters reported it was the first climate change case to come before Australia's top court, and advocates say the ruling will affect how future fossil fuel projects are assessed in New South Wales.
The Mount Pleasant mine, in the Hunter Valley north-west of Sydney, is due to end operations this December. The company had sought to extend its life by two decades to 2048 and double production, extracting an additional 406 million tonnes of coal; the approval granted in 2022 would have made it the state's largest open-cut coal mine. A group of local residents challenged the approval and won in the state Court of Appeal before the company appealed to the High Court.
Justice James Edelman found that so-called scope 3 emissions, generated overseas when the exported coal is burned, made up 98 per cent of the project's greenhouse gas emissions, yet the state's Independent Planning Commission had considered only the remaining 2 per cent and had failed to address whether conditions should be imposed to minimise emissions to the greatest extent practicable. The court dismissed the appeal with costs.
The community group behind the case is made up of Hunter Valley residents. Legal and environment advocates say the decision establishes that assessment bodies must properly consider a project's full climate footprint. How miners and the state government adjust future approvals and conditions in response will be closely watched.
图片来源：图：堪培拉澳大利亚高等法院大楼实景。摄影：Thennicke，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
