Fighting for our futures
Anjali Sharma is a 17 yr old climate activist from Melbourne and an organiser with School Strike 4 Climate since 2019.
In 2020, alongside 7 other teens and Equity Generation Lawyers, she took on the Class Action 4 Climate. They asked Environment Minister Sussan Ley to fulfil her duty of care and protect young people against the impacts of climate change. This is in relation to her imminent approval of the Vickery Extension Project in Whitehaven, NSW.
The proposed extension would see an increase in coal production by 25%, with emissions of 100 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses over the next 25 years (equivalent to about 70% of Australia’s total emissions since 2019).
We hear from Anj in late May 2022, a few days after a significant win in the class action.
kindling & sage: Tell us about how you became involved in advocating for climate justice.
Anjali: I’ve grown up surrounded by the impacts of climate change, witnessing them in my home country of India. an equatorial country that is already, and will continue to be, one of the worst hit by the climate crisis. In India, temperatures reach 45 degrees celsius by 9 am on spring mornings. Flash floods, fires, extreme heatwaves and cyclones ravage the country regularly, and studies have shown that these impacts are only going to become more frequent as a result of climate change. Living in Australia, I feel so privileged to say that I am not on the frontlines of the climate crisis. This privilege comes with the responsibility to advocate for those who are, using the platform that I have.
kindling & sage: How did the decision to launch the climate change class action come about?
Anjali: I’ve been involved in School Strike for Climate since 2019, organising strikes, fundraisers, vigils, working with unions and workers and First Nations people in the climate movement. The opportunity to be part of the class action was actually offered to us by a graduated striker who is now employed at Equity Generation Lawyers, the law firm that is representing us pro-bono. They’ve been developing this case theory for a while now and reached out to us to take it on.
pictured: Anjali Sharma. (Source: supplied)
kindling & sage: What are you hoping will happen now?
Anjali: On Thursday 27th of May 2021, we had a partial win in the case. The court recognised a legal duty of care owed to all young people by the Minister for the Environment. This is an incredibly significant outcome as it means the Minister must now take into consideration the impacts on future generations when carrying out her duties. However, we asked for a rare and special type of injunction to prevent the Vickery Extension Project from going ahead, which was not granted. Instead, the court is giving us until the 3rd of June to make further submissions on how this particular coal mine directly breaches the duty of care that the Minister for Environment now has. We’ll be making these submissions: the fight for this injunction is not over yet.
Update: In early July, we spoke to Anjali again and she advised that submissions have been made regarding how exactly the Vickery Extension project breaches the Environment Minister’s duty of care. It is now up to the court to make the final orders, essentially writing the duty into law, which should happen in the coming weeks. Shortly after, Minister Sussan Ley announced her intention to appeal and will be using public funds to defend the government’s right to continue putting our futures at risk.
“It’s time for our leaders to listen to us and fund a renewable transition into the future.”
kindling & sage: What type of action would you like to see from the government?
Anjali: It astounds me that the government is still funnelling tons of public money into coal, oil, gas projects that will do nothing but exacerbate the climate crisis. Studies upon studies have shown that fossil fuels are a dying industry, that Australia won’t be able to compete on gas prices, that there is significant opportunity in renewable energy. But still, the government is relying on dirty energy to lead us through a post-COVID world. In late May, the government announced a further $600 million to a gas-fired power station in the Hunter Valley. The federal budget 3 weeks earlier gave $51bn to fossil fuels and almost no money to renewable energy. Australia is severely behind every other country on its emissions reduction targets, on its divestment from fossil fuels. It’s time for our leaders to realise who they represent and listen to us when we say that it’s time for them to fund a safe, renewable, just transition into the future.
kindling & sage: What's next for you? After this class action, but also on an individual level.
Anjali: It’s more about what’s next for the climate movement, to be honest. I’ve only been leading one small part of it. There have been so many wins for the climate movement just in the last few days, starting with this case. The Dutch Court ordered multinational Shell to almost halve its carbon emissions by 2030; the Australian Federal Court dismissed Adani’s plans to drain thousands of tons of water from local communities. There’s so much going on in this space. For me, I’m going to keep working with my lawyers on submissions around the actual injunction of the mine, and we’ll see what happens from there! I’ll still be organising with School Strike Melbourne as I have been for years, and waiting to see what the next opportunity is. 🔥
