Australia's state of New South Wales has introduced laws that would allow the expansion of a massive coal mine, despite a ruling against it by the country's highest court last month.
Local mining firm Mach Energy had sought permission to extend the life of the open-cut Mount Pleasant coal mine by more than 20 years until 2048.
But the High Court ruled last month that the expansion should be halted because planning bodies had not properly looked at the local impacts of planet-heating emissions from the coal, in what campaigners said was the first climate case to reach the nation's top judicial body.
The New South Wales government said on Tuesday the legislation would address the "unique legal uncertainty" following that ruling and protect up to 400 jobs at the mine.
The bill "allows the mine to continue working in line with its current production and workforce profile, and produce up to 16.5 million tonnes a year until 2032", it added.
"We're committed to our plans in relation to renewable energy and climate change, we're not walking away from it," Premier Chris Minns told the national broadcaster ABC.
"But this is the biggest reform and revolution of energy markets in the state's history, and I reserve the right to make an intervention to protect jobs and grow the economy where I think it's warranted."
Mach Energy had argued that coal shipped off and burned overseas could not be clearly linked to environmental impacts felt in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney.
But environmental campaigners disagreed, saying every ounce of greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere made bushfires, floods and drought more likely.
Retired science teachers Wendy Wales and Tony Lonergan fought for years to halt a planned mine expansion in Australia's rural coal-digging heartland.
"This is a pretty dire situation, and everybody in New South Wales and Australia should be concerned," Wales told the ABC on Tuesday.
Australia is one of the world's fossil fuel giants, ranking among the top exporters of both coal and liquefied natural gas.
It is currently head of climate negotiations at this week's COP31 conference in Turkey.
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