Complaint filed with
the ACCC to investigate potential misleading claims by NSW Mining

NSW Mining, a mining industry association, has been promoting an ongoing role for coal in the transition via an advertisement published in The Coal Face newspaper and its own website dedicated to “mining responsibly”. Climate Integrity and the Environmental Defenders Office have undertaken an analysis of claims made by NSW Mining and found them to be potentially misleading and have subsequently filed a complaint to the ACCC asking them to investigate. We believe NSW Mining may be in breach of sections 18, 29 and 33 of the Australian Consumer Law.

The NSW Mining advertisement advocates for the continued need for coal for many years, without clarifying the environmental costs or climate harms of doing so. It states: “Our coal is needed for many years to come, while the world develops other energy sources”. It specifically lists that coal is needed for “energy security”, “powering homes and businesses”, and “charging devices”. While also saying that “NSW coal is high-quality". Given the lack of clarification, disclaimers, or limitations, we have lodged a complaint to the ACCC that these representations may mislead consumers – potentially leading to the false belief that essential services and a stable electricity supply are dependent on coal.

Statements by NSW Mining are potentially misleading as they ignore global efforts and momentum to phase out coal over the next decade. Half of the current energy supply in Australia already comes from other energy sources – particularly renewable energy – and by 2030 this number is expected to rise to 82%. Current forecasts suggest that 90% of the National Electricity market’s coal fleet will retire by 2034-35. Furthermore, describing coal as “high quality” is misleading as it implies reduced environmental harm, when in reality all coal contributes significantly to climate harms. This framing also distracts from other harmful byproducts of coal use, such as toxic ash, heavy metals, and particulate pollution, which pose serious risks to public health and ecosystems regardless of the coal's grade.

The IPCC projects that current greenhouse gas emissions are leading us towards 3.2ºC of global warming, a figure that will cause widespread global disruption, economic and social collapse, and geopolitical instability. Australia has international legal obligations to curb fossil fuel production, consumption, licensing, and subsidies. Deceptive or misleading sustainability representations are illegal under Australian consumer law and Climate Integrity supports recent recommendations by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change to criminalise fossil fuel disinformation.