Court win

Today, Justice Mordecai Bromberg of the Federal Court handed down a historic decision, finding that the government does in fact owe young people and future generations a Duty of Care to protect us from the impacts of climate change.

In a momentous judgement, Justice Bromberg found at [293]:

“It is difficult to characterise in a single phrase the devastation that the plausible evidence presented in this proceeding forecasts for the Children. As Australian adults know their country, Australia will be lost and the World as we know it gone as well. The physical environment will be harsher, far more extreme and devastatingly brutal when angry. As for the human experience – quality of life, opportunities to partake in nature’s treasures, the capacity to grow and prosper – all will be greatly diminished. Lives will be cut short. Trauma will be far more common and good health harder to hold and maintain. None of this will be the fault of nature itself. It will largely be inflicted by the inaction of this generation of adults, in what might fairly be described as the greatest inter-generational injustice ever inflicted by one generation of humans upon the next.”

We are incredibly grateful that one of Australia’s highest legal institutions has recognised the harm that climate change is causing, and will inevitably cause to future generations of this country. We are grateful that the court has highlighted the injustice of this, in that our generation and generations to come will pay the price for the actions of those that have come before us.

We are proud of our legal team and thankful for everyone who has supported us along the way, and we are looking forward to seeing the impact of this law in practice.