The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility has filed a federal court case against gas giant Santos over its claims natural gas is “clean fuel” and that it has a credible pathway to net zero emissions by 2040.

In addition, last year in the so-called Sharma case a group of young activists succeeded in establishing that the environment minister owed them a duty of care against harm, but failed to block a coal mine extension.

Australia is second only to the United States in climate-related legal action, according to research by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment last year. The research showed that a total of 124 climate change related legal cases have been launched in Australia, more than the United Kingdom, which had seen 83 cases, and the entire European Union, which had 60.

Dr Anita Foerster, a climate law specialist at Monash University, said cases like this had played a particularly significant role in Australia when there was a reluctance by former federal governments to raise climate ambition or engage actively in climate policy and law.

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