An India-backed company planning to build a massive coal mine in Australia welcomed a court's decision Monday to dismiss a legal challenge raising environmental concerns over the project's impact on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Federal Court dismissed the Australian Conservation Foundation's case which questioned the government's decision to approve the Aus$16.5 billion (US$12.5 billion) project in Queensland, home to the colourful coral reef.
"Our question was whether Australia's federal environmental laws protected our Great Barrier Reef from its most serious threat - climate change," said solicitor Sean Ryan from the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland.
"We asked the court to scrutinise if the environment minister was required to consider the climate change impacts from the burning of coal from the Carmichael mine, and disappointingly the Federal Court answered no."