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Anjali Sharma (born 2004) is an Australian climate activist who was the lead litigant in a class action in the Australian Federal Court, seeking an injunction against the
Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
and the Minister for the Environment for failing to consider the impacts of climate change when approving a coal mining permit. While no injunction was issued, the principle that the government had a duty of care to prevent certain impacts was established. The government appealed against this part of the ruling and won. Sharma was a finalist in the 2021 Children's Climate Prize, an international prize for climate activism, based in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
.


Climate activism

Sharma, as a high school student, took the Australian Government and Minister for the Environment (then
Sussan Ley Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal ...
), to the
Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...
in a class action. She was the lead litigant in ''Sharma and others vs Minister for the Environment'', together with seven other school students, and a nun, Sister Marie Brigid Arthur. The class action asked the court to stop Minister from approving expansion of the Vickery coal mine, near
Gunnedah Gunnedah () is a town in north-central New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 8,338. Gunnedah is situated within the Liver ...
, in
NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...
. The court ruled, in a world first, that the minister has a
duty of care In Tort, tort law, a duty of care is a legal Law of obligations, obligation that is imposed on an individual, requiring adherence to a standard of care, standard of Reasonable person, reasonable care to avoid careless acts that could foreseeab ...
towards teenagers and children, with respect to
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
impacts, and in particular
bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
and
heatwave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...
. During the case, the science of climate change, and in particular that human emissions of are "largely responsible" for climate change and warming of the Earth's surface was undisputed. Also undisputed was that Australia will experience more
drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
,
heatwave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...
extremes and fire related weather. Further, it was undisputed that these effects and their extent will be influenced by the extent of
greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
es emitted. Justice Mordecai Bromberg, ruled that the minister had "a duty to take reasonable care to avoid causing personal injury" to youth and children of Australia, when the minister made a decision about the extension of the coal mining project under the
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...
. The aim, as stated by the teenagers, was to prevent both the new fossil fuel projects and the expansion of existing projects. The teenagers who brought the class action were Anjali Sharma, Isolde Shanti Raj-Seppings, Ambrose Malachy Hayes, Tomas Webster Arbizu, Bella Paige Burgemeister, Laura Fleck Kirwan, Ava Princi and Luca Gwyther Saunders. As the applicants were under 18, they were represented by Sister Marie Brigid Arthur, a sister of the Brigadine Order of Victoria. Sharma's actions and court case may set
legal precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...
in future court cases in Australia where the impacts of
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, need to be considered in future coal and
fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...
mining approvals. Sharma's case is part of a recent 'legal surge' in climate action cases in the US and Australia led by teenagers. , there were 21 climate change cases, including the Sharma appeal case. An expanded explanation of ''Sharma and others vs Minister for the Environment'' noted the Federal Court declared that "the Minister has a reasonable duty to avoid causing death or injury to persons who were under 18 years of age and ordinarily resident in Australia at the time of the commencement of this proceeding arising from emissions of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere." In March 2022, the Australian government had the ruling overturned on appeal.


Media

Sharma's case, the implications for
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, the youth of the team of the class action, and the historic precedent set by the results, have received much media and legal attention, within Australian, Indian, and British media outlets. Her case has been reported on, by SBS, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Guardian, and The Australian. Writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in April 2022, just prior to the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
, Sharma addressed the nation's concern surrounding climate change in contrast to the government's lack of political will: "...with 114new fossil fuel projects in the pipeline, and a two-party system with deeply ingrained ties to big coal and gas, what our major parties are promising is the exact opposite". In 2024, Anjali's story and activism was covered by
Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs, AB ...
, a program produced by the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
. Sharma has written about climate change and the need for action for the Sydney Morning Herald. She was also featured in other media outlets such as Missing Perspective and Women Agenda.


Legal implications

The case may be a significant precedent to inform other cases where climate change impacts are considered. Sharma's work led to the temporary conclusion that, within Australian law, the Minister for the Environment has a duty to avoid causing personal injury and death to Australian children from carbon emissions which can lead to heatwaves and bushfires, when approving coal projects. Sharma's activism led to her being nominated as a finalist in the Children's Climate Prize. This is an "international prize annually awarded to young people who have made extraordinary efforts for the climate and environment."


Legislation

Sharma worked with independent Senator
David Pocock David Willmer Pocock (born 23 April 1988) is an Australian politician and former professional rugby union player. Raised in Gweru, Zimbabwe, Pocock moved to Australia as a teenager and played for the Australia national rugby team. He played p ...
who introduced the ''Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity) Bill 2023'' to the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. The bill aimed at compelling the Federal Government to take into consideration the health of young people when approving developments, in particular mining or fossil fuel developments, and proposals which have the potential to release greenhouse gases.


Prizes and awards


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Anjali Living people Australian climate activists Australian people of South Asian descent Australian women activists 2004 births