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The NSW Independent Planning Commission has approved the Hunter Valley Operations Continuation Project, the largest coalmine ever to go before it, allowing mining until 2045 despite warnings over 809 million tonnes of emissions.
The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission has approved the biggest coalmine project in its history, allowing mining to continue until 2045 at a Hunter Valley site that climate groups call a carbon bomb.
Planning Commission Approves Coalmine Project
The Independent Planning Commission (IPC) greenlit the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) Continuation Project after a contentious assessment that drew in climate and environment groups, unions, state authorities and more than 10,000 public submissions. The commission said greenhouse gas emissions from the mine, near Singleton, would contribute to climate change impacts on the people, economy and environment of the Hunter region, NSW and globally.
But the IPC said those impacts had been outweighed by benefits to the Hunter region and NSW, including continued employment, economic activity, support for local business, ongoing royalties and taxation revenue. The IPC added that the decision would provide economic stability for the Hunter region and support a more orderly transition for workers, businesses and communities as the coal industry changes over time.
Glencore and Yancoal, the joint owners of HVO, want to continue digging coal at the north mine site until 2045, and mine from 2030 to 2042 at the south mine. The IPC said HVO would have to prepare a plan to manage emissions from burning the coal overseas, limiting exports to jurisdictions with greenhouse gas emissions policies consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Company Aims For Federal Environmental Approval
The project also requires federal environmental approval, a process expected to be decided before the end of the year. HVO said it was engaging with the national environmental protection agency to secure federal approval by the end of December 2026. HVO said the approval marked a pivotal milestone for 1,500 mine workers, their families and the regional economy. It said coal had been mined at the site for 75 years and the project had strong local support.
Over the life of the project, the company estimated that 809 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent will be released into the atmosphere. About 794 million tonnes of that will be emitted when the coal is burned overseas, 87% of which will come from power plants, according to presentations HVO made to the IPC. The state's independent Net Zero Commission had warned the planning commission that approving the project could affect the state's ability to meet climate targets in the future.
The Net Zero Commission recommended the planning authority consider all impacts from the mine's greenhouse gases, including from burning coal in power stations overseas. It pointed to advances in climate science released this week suggesting the additional global heating caused by the project's approval would expose almost half a million people to unprecedented heat.
HVO Counters Climate Impact Concerns
The commission also said it would kill nearly 15 million coral colonies on the Great Barrier Reef every time it bleaches and lead to more than 100 additional deaths from heatwaves in Europe to the end of this century. Responding to questions from the commission this month, HVO contended that its coal would be burned in jurisdictions that have accepted responsibility under international law for managing their emissions trajectories in pursuit of their climate objectives.
Climate campaigners had strongly opposed the project, saying it was out of line with Australia's commitments under the Paris climate agreement and could affect extreme weather events. Groups reacted with dismay at the approval. Rising Tide described it as the largest climate policy failure in NSW history. The Climate Council had described the project as a climate bomb that would supercharge climate disasters.
One of its councillors, former NSW Fire and Rescue commissioner Greg Mullins, on Wednesday raised concerns over overseas emissions from the coal. He said what NSW exports as coal, we import back as bushfires, floods, heatwaves and droughts. He added that climate harm does not stop at the border, and neither does the responsibility for it.
Campaigners Condemn Planning System Failure
Georgina Woods, co-national coordinator of the Lock the Gate Alliance, said there is no other way to describe this other than a catastrophic failure of the New South Wales planning system to protect the people of the state from the worst impacts of global warming. Woods said the process for considering fossil fuel projects in NSW was the best in the country, including its climate change act and an independent and transparent planning authority.
She said the law was in place, and she was frankly shocked. It will go down in history as an infamous betrayal of the public trust. The NSW Nature Conservation Council's chief executive, Jacqui Mumford, said the decision was Chris Minns' biggest climate failure as premier and highlighted the government's complete inability to appropriately respond to the ever-growing climate crisis.
NSW state Greens MP Sue Higginson said the approval was an absolute betrayal of the science, adding she wouldn't be surprised if the decision is challenged in the courts. The NSW Minerals Council urged the state government to pass legislation to limit the opportunity for a legal challenge from climate activists determined to object to every coal mining approval on ideological grounds.
NSW Independent Planning Commission Coal Mine Approval Climate Change Carbon Emissions
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