Australia's coal and gas exports violate our human rights, group says in new UN case
A group of Australians have accused the government of violating their human rights by continuing to export coal and gas and are asking the UN to take action.
The group say their lives have been harmed due to extreme weather in Australia - bushfires, floods, heatwaves, rising sea levels and toxic algal blooms - and the government's support of fossil fuel companies is to blame.
It is the first legal claim taken to an international body or court since 2025's ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that countries can be sued over climate change.
Any decision by the UN is not legally binding but Australia - one of the world's largest coal and gas exporters - would be expected to respond.
The BBC has contacted Environment Minister Murray Watt for comment.
Dr Barry Traill, a wildlife ecologist and volunteer firefighter, is one of the ten litigants.
In 2009, several of his friends died during the devastating Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, despite being prepared and experienced, he said.
"That deeply changed me," Traill said, and "it became clear that the old rules around fires and survival no longer applied".
In 2019, he was on the frontlines battling severe blazes in Queensland during the so-called Black Summer fires where he saw that climate change was not a future problem.
"It is already killing people and hurting lives, landscapes and communities across Australia," he said.
"Continuing to allow coal and gas companies to increase pollution, while people face worsening disasters, is a profound failure of responsibility."
Brendon Donohue has also joined the legal claim, describing how he was trapped in his home for 10 days in 2022 when floods in Brisbane damaged the power supply of his apartment block, meaning the lifts, intercom and exits were not accessible.
"Because I live with blindness and mobility challenges, climate impacts affect me differently and can make everyday life much harder to navigate safely," he said.
Another case is that of Prof Anne Poelina, an Indigenous woman from the Kimberley region in Western Australia, who describes being displaced from the area around the Fitzroy River, one of the state's most important waterways, because of catastrophic flooding.
"When the river is healthy, our people are healthy," she said, and "when the river suffers, our people suffer."
"What concerns me most is the intergenerational loss of cultural knowledge," she added as "so much of our knowledge is not written down", but passed on by being physically present on the land.
One of the lawyers helping the group with their claim said that "climate harm caused by Australia's coal and gas doesn't stop at a border, and neither does Australia's responsibility for it".
"They are asking the United Nations Human Rights Committee to declare that it's unlawful for Australia to continue approving and subsidising coal and gas for export without a plan to protect people from dangerous climate change," said Hannah White, senior lawyer with Environmental Justice Australia.
Last July, the ICJ - considered the world's highest court with global jurisdiction - ruled that countries can sue each other for climate change, including over historic emissions of planet-warming gases.
Read the full story at BBC ↗
A group of ten Australians has filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee asserting that Australia's coal and gas exports contribute to climate-driven harms they have experienced, including extreme weather events and displacement. The complaint is the first international legal action of its kind following the 2025 International Court of Justice ruling that countries can be sued over climate change. The claimants, including a wildlife ecologist, a person with mobility challenges, and an Indigenous woman, describe specific impacts from bushfires, floods, and river degradation. Their legal representatives argue that Australia's continued approval and subsidisation of coal and gas exports without climate protection measures constitutes a human rights violation. A UN decision would not be legally binding, but Australia—one of the world's largest coal and gas exporters—would be expected to provide a response.
Read the full story at BBC ↗
A group of Australians have accused the government of violating their human rights by continuing to export coal and gas and are asking the UN to take action.
The group say their lives have been harmed due to extreme weather in Australia - bushfires, floods, heatwaves, rising sea levels and toxic algal blooms - and the government's support of fossil fuel companies is to blame.
It is the first legal claim taken to an international body or court since 2025's ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that countries can be sued over climate change.
Any decision by the UN is not legally binding but Australia - one of the world's largest coal and gas exporters - would be expected to respond.
The BBC has contacted Environment Minister Murray Watt for comment.
Dr Barry Traill, a wildlife ecologist and volunteer firefighter, is one of the ten litigants.
In 2009, several of his friends died during the devastating Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, despite being prepared and experienced, he said.
"That deeply changed me," Traill said, and "it became clear that the old rules around fires and survival no longer applied".
In 2019, he was on the frontlines battling severe blazes in Queensland during the so-called Black Summer fires where he saw that climate change was not a future problem.
"It is already killing people and hurting lives, landscapes and communities across Australia," he said.
"Continuing to allow coal and gas companies to increase pollution, while people face worsening disasters, is a profound failure of responsibility."
Brendon Donohue has also joined the legal claim, describing how he was trapped in his home for 10 days in 2022 when floods in Brisbane damaged the power supply of his apartment block, meaning the lifts, intercom and exits were not accessible.
"Because I live with blindness and mobility challenges, climate impacts affect me differently and can make everyday life much harder to navigate safely," he said.
Another case is that of Prof Anne Poelina, an Indigenous woman from the Kimberley region in Western Australia, who describes being displaced from the area around the Fitzroy River, one of the state's most important waterways, because of catastrophic flooding.
"When the river is healthy, our people are healthy," she said, and "when the river suffers, our people suffer."
"What concerns me most is the intergenerational loss of cultural knowledge," she added as "so much of our knowledge is not written down", but passed on by being physically present on the land.
One of the lawyers helping the group with their claim said that "climate harm caused by Australia's coal and gas doesn't stop at a border, and neither does Australia's responsibility for it".
"They are asking the United Nations Human Rights Committee to declare that it's unlawful for Australia to continue approving and subsidising coal and gas for export without a plan to protect people from dangerous climate change," said Hannah White, senior lawyer with Environmental Justice Australia.
Last July, the ICJ - considered the world's highest court with global jurisdiction - ruled that countries can sue each other for climate change, including over historic emissions of planet-warming gases.
Read the full story at BBC ↗
Ten Australians have filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee The complaint claims Australia's coal and gas exports violate their human rights Australia is one of the world's largest coal and gas exporters The litigants report experiencing bushfires, floods, heatwaves, rising sea levels and toxic algal blooms The government's support of fossil fuel companies is to blame for these weather events This is the first legal claim taken to an international body or court since 2025's ICJ ruling that countries can be sued over climate change A UN decision would not be legally binding Australia would be expected to respond to any UN decision Dr Barry Traill lost friends in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria Traill participated in firefighting during Queensland's 2019 Black Summer fires Climate change is already killing people and hurting lives across Australia Brendon Donohue was trapped in his Brisbane home for 10 days during 2022 floods due to power loss Donohue has blindness and mobility challenges Prof Anne Poelina is from the Kimberley region and has been displaced due to Fitzroy River flooding Continuing to allow coal and gas companies to increase pollution while people face worsening disasters is a failure of responsibility Climate harm from Australia's coal and gas does not stop at borders The ICJ ruled in July that countries can sue each other for climate change, including over historic emissions
Read the full story at BBC ↗
- Ten Australians have filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee claiming Australia's coal and gas exports violate their human rights by contributing to climate disasters affecting them
- Litigants cite specific harms including bushfires, floods, heatwaves, and displacement, linking these to Australia's continued fossil fuel exports
- This is the first such case filed to an international body since the International Court of Justice ruled in 2025 that countries can be sued over climate change
- A UN decision would be non-binding but Australia would be expected to respond as a major coal and gas exporter
- The claim asks the UN to declare it unlawful for Australia to approve and subsidise coal and gas exports without climate protection plans