NSW coalmine climate ruling a massive shake-up to Australia's oil and gas

A landmark ruling in the High Court has found planning authorities are required to consider local climate change effects when approving fossil fuel projects.

Three of the five judges found in favour of a Hunter Valley residents' group, which halted the Mount Pleasant mine expansion last year in the New South Wales Court of Appeal.

The High Court has agreed with that judgement and found the project's planning approval needed to take into account local effects from climate change caused by emissions from its coal exports.

The case is expected to have national implications for the way fossil fuel project approvals take global emissions and local climate change impacts into account.