The Albanese government has given the green tick to three major thermal coal mine expansions in New South Wales, in a move that critics say lays bare the blatant disregard of climate change in Australia’s federal environmental laws.

But it is the “reckless disregard” for the effects of catastrophic climate change that has been the most jarring, with the three projects estimated to lock in as much as 1.5 billion tonnes of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions – more than double Australia’s total annual emissions.