Losing this court case feels like we’ve lost our chance for a safe future

Growing up, children are told to take losing graciously because winning isn’t everything. We’re told that participation is what matters and, that if you’ve given it your best shot, that’s something to be proud of.

But in this case, it felt like winning was everything. We lost, and I’m angry. I’m angry, and so devastated.

Young climate activist Luca Saunders shows her disappointment after the verdict on a climate case brought by a group of eight children was dismissed.Credit: Brook Mitchell

It feels like we didn’t just lose a court case, like you can lose a blue ribbon at a high school athletics carnival. It feels like we’ve lost our chance to push the government further on the climate crisis, and with it, lost our chance for a safe future.

This morning the other litigants and I entered the Federal Court to hear the full bench deliver its decision on Minister Sussan Ley’s appeal against Justice Bromberg’s finding that she had a duty of care to protect young Australians from climate change when assessing fossil fuel projects.

I don’t know what we expected as we crouched on the floor holding hands, hearts beating. But whatever we expected, it wasn’t to be walking out of court with tears rolling down our cheeks having to come to terms with the fact that the minister’s duty of care no longer existed.

It didn’t seem real, and it still doesn’t. So much was riding on this case.

How many once-in-a-decade, once-in-a-century, once-in-a-thousand-year weather events do we have to go through before our government decides to take real action on climate change?

I fronted the media with some of my closest friends behind me, and my family at the back of my mind. I was born in India, an equatorial country that is on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Years ago when I visited in the spring months, the temperature would be 45 degrees by 9am on some mornings. Natural disasters constantly ravage the country and the pollution is like a thick, weighted blanket. The population there has been wearing masks as protection against pollution much longer than we’ve been wearing masks to protect ourselves from the coronavirus.

And yet, we’re the ones that complain.

Years ago, when I would explain the reasons behind my activism to people, I would hark back to my experiences in India and say that the threat of climate change is never more real than when it’s on your doorstep. I could say that today, and know Australians really understand what I’m saying.

Two years ago, Australia was on fire; today, it’s underwater.

This is climate change, and it’s on our doorstep, the only question now is how long we ignore it. Climate inaction has devastating consequences for young people, and we will continue to demand that those in power protect the most vulnerable.

The Federal Court today accepted the minister’s legal arguments that she did not owe Australian children a duty to avoid harming us when approving a coal mine. But there’s no denying that our moral arguments were much stronger. Today’s ruling does not change the minister’s moral obligation to protect young people from climate change. It does not change the science. It does not put out the fires or drain the floodwaters.

I’m trying to act strong. I’m trying to speak from the heart and reassure everyone, including myself, that we’ll be back, in some way or another.

But I’m terrified.

I’m terrified about the precedent this sets, and I’m terrified today’s ruling will be, in effect, a green light for more fossil fuel approvals. I’m terrified the floodgates will be opened for millions of tons of carbon emissions, and I absolutely shudder to think about what this means for my generation, and particularly those in more disadvantaged areas, like my family in India.

What I will say with absolute certainty, however, is that the world is watching the Australian government’s abhorrent failure to act on climate change. While other countries set strict emissions reductions targets and shift their focus to renewable energy, the Australian government approves more fossil fuel projects. Something has to change.

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