Environment Victoria

$40,000 | November 2021

 

Environmental Justice Australia legal team with Environment Victoria’s Policy and Advocacy Manager outside the Supreme Court

 

What do Environment Victoria do?

Founded in 1969, Environment Victoria is an independent charity recognised as the leading voice for the environment in Victoria.

Environment Victoria is taking Victoria’s environment regulator and the Latrobe Valley coal-fired power stations to court over their failure to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It will be the first case to test Victoria’s key climate change legislation and challenge lax regulation of pollution from the dirtiest power stations in Australia.

Why is this work important?

There's growing recognition that the transition to 100% clean energy can be much faster than previously assumed, and business groups (including the Business Council of Australia) are now backing climate action on economic grounds.

But while momentum has swung behind cheerleading renewables, no government has released a comprehensive plan for an orderly phase out of coal-fired power stations, or a mechanism that would directly reduce emissions from coal-fired power stations. Without this, there's a danger that the closure will be driven purely by the market, not what is best for emissions or the local community. The health impacts of coal pollution are also rarely discussed.

This court case reminds the public that regulators can - and should - have a role intervening in the energy market to protect people's health and act on climate. It would focus attention of the biggest cause of climate change in Australia - pollution from coal-burning power stations. It would also shift public debate towards directly regulating emissions from coal power stations rather than merely waiting for the market to decide.

How is Groundswell supporting this work?

Groundswell is supporting EV’s campaign activities including:

  • Making sure the EPA stick to the court verdict and remake their decision on the licences in line with the Climate Change Act/Environment Protection Act and in line with community expectations. Funds would cover communications, campaign, and organising staff costs.

  • There could be an appeal which we would need funds to prepare for. Funds would cover legal team cost & court fees.

  • Making the win a key moment in our Beyond Coal campaign through content production and dissemination through media advertising, social media and other channels. Environment Victoria’s Beyond Coal campaign aims to close Victoria's coal-fired power stations by 2030 and achieve a fast and fair transition for the Latrobe Valley. Funds would cover costs for producing a series of videos, estimated at $10-12k.

Grant update

An update from EV following their court case concerning the Latrobe Valley coal-fired power station:

Groundswell funding enabled Environment Victoria represented by Environmental Justice Australia to take the Victorian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and three energy companies to court over their failure to reduce climate and air pollution from the three coal-burning power stations in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria.

Unfortunately, in December 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that Victoria’s EPA acted within the law when it failed to impose limits on greenhouse gas emissions from Victoria’s coal power stations and set very weak limits on toxic air pollutants. Whilst the judgement was not what we hoped for, neither has it locked in failure.

While this is a disappointing court outcome, this case sent an important message to business and government regulators that their decisions will be scrutinised and challenged by community groups, now and into the future. In response to the verdict, EPA CEO Lee Meizis acknowledged this point, saying “scrutiny from organisations like Environment Victoria can only make us better.”

The case brought widespread media coverage to the harm being done by Victorian coal power stations. Our media strategy involved lifting up the voices of local community members and coal workers – compelling messengers that we know cut through to key audiences. Our media team achieved a front page in The Age and wall-to-wall television and radio new coverage that highlighted the harm coal is doing to our climate and our community while privately owned coal companies reap record profits.

The case contributed to a concerted effort to create investor pressure on power station owners to bring forward closure dates for power stations. The threat of further tightening licences increased uncertainty about the profitability and longevity of the power stations. The case and media attention was in the balance at at a critical moment as activist investors like Mike Cannon-Brookes worked a pincer movement on the Board. This combined work helped force AGL’s decision to bring forward the closure of Loy Yang A to 2035. It also in turn created the political space for the Victorian government to promise it would force the last of the power stations – Loy Yang B – to close on the same timeframe.

With last year’s historic announcements by AGL and the Victorian government, we have entered a new phase in our campaign for a just transition from coal. Whilst 2035 is still later than the climate science demands, our immediate priority is to ensure that the groundwork is laid for a fast and fair transition. Environment Victoria and Environmental Justice Australia will continue their decade-long collaboration to ensure that there is a proper legal framework and rehabilitation plans for the three Latrobe valley coal mines. The commitment to close Victoria’s coal power stations has also created the space to shift public attention to the other major sources of climate pollution in Victoria. Environment Victoria is now ramping up a campaign to shift Victoria off gas and investigating potential strategies to drive down emissions from Victoria’s fleet of trucks, cars, trains and buses.