By Head of Policy and Law Reform Rachel Walmsley and Scientific Director Megan Kessler With less than one month to go until the Conference of the Parties of the UN Climate Change Convention meeting in Glasgow (COP 26), EDO looks at what the Australian Government can do in the next few weeks to ensure we are […]
The NSW Court of Appeal has today upheld the decision to refuse the Bylong Coal Project. The decision comes two years after the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) first rejected the 6.5 million-tonnes-per-year greenfield coal mine, calling the greenhouse gas emissions from the project ‘problematical’. The Bylong Valley, near Mudgee in central western NSW, is known for its scenic […]
New South Wales Environment and Energy Minister Matt Kean has today announced there will be no appeal of last month’s landmark court ruling which found the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has a duty to take serious action on greenhouse gas emissions, signalling a major change in climate policy for the state. EDO’s case on behalf of client Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action argued that the EPA has a duty to develop policies, objectives and guidelines to regulate greenhouse […]
The Environmental Defenders Office has assisted a group of First Nations people to make a formal request for a United Nations Committee to review Western Australia’s draft proposed cultural heritage bill, arguing the bill is incompatible with Australia’s international obligations on racial discrimination. Slim Parker, Kado Muir, Dr Anne Poelina, Clayton Lewis and Dr Hannah McGlade have made a request to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the Committee) to review the Western Australian draft Aboriginal […]
EDO welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Major Event Review of Victoria’s Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs). The Major Event Review provisions of the Victorian RFAs provide the opportunity to assess the impacts of the catastrophic 2019-2020 bushfire season on the operation of the Victorian RFAs. Importantly, the Major Event Review will be […]
The Northern Territory’s peak environmental bodies, Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC) and the Environment Center NT (ECNT) appeared before a Ministerial Review Panel on Friday September 3 to challenge the Water Controller’s approval of the NT’s largest ever groundwater licence. Represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, our clients argued that the water licence was granted without due regard to legislative requirements and without proper consideration of the merits […]
In the wake of Australia’s 2019-2020 bushfires, the protection of unburnt habitat has become an urgent priority. Much of the land that survived the bushfires intact is now a vital refuge for biodiversity, particularly threatened species. Six priority landscapes have been identified in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria as requiring immediate protection because they […]
EDO clients, Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action(BSCA) is celebrating today’s ruling from the NSW Land and Environment Court that the NSW Environment Protection Authority has a duty to take serious action on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. It is the first time that an Australian Court has ordered a government to take meaningful action […]
Almost two years since the Bylong Coal Project was first rejected by the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC), clients of the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) are once again heading to court to argue for the refusal of the mine to be upheld. The Bylong Valley Protection Alliance (BVPA) will ask the NSW Court of Appeal to throw out a second appeal lodged by proponent KEPCO over the 6.5 million-tonnes-per-year greenfield coal project. BVPA is a community group including […]
With support from people like you, we can run more groundbreaking cases and deliver expert legal advice to people all over the Australia-Pacific region.
Authorised by Joanna Shulman, Environmental Defenders Office Ltd, Suite 8.02 Level 8, 6 O’Connell St, Sydney NSW 2000 • ABN: 72 002 880 864
Postal Address:
PO Box R1105 Royal Exchange NSW 1225
EDO recognises the traditional owners and custodians of the land, seas and rivers of Australia. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders past and present, and aspire to learn from traditional knowledge and customs so that, together, we can protect our environment and cultural heritage through law.
