Sharma, as a high school student, took the Australian Government and Minister for the Environment (then Sussan Ley), to the Federal Court of Australia in a class action.
The class action asked the court to stop Minister from approving expansion of the Vickery coal mine, near Gunnedah, in NSW.
The court ruled, in a world first, that the minister has a duty of care towards teenagers and children, with respect to climate change impacts, and in particular bushfire and heatwave.
[2] The teenagers who brought the class action were Anjali Sharma, Isolde Shanti Raj-Seppings, Ambrose Malachy Hayes, Tomas Webster Arbizu, Bella Paige Burgemeister, Laura Fleck Kirwan, Ava Princi and Luca Gwyther Saunders.
[2] An expanded explanation of Sharma and others vs Minister for the Environment noted the Federal Court declared that "the Minister has a reasonable duty to avoid causing death or injury to persons who were under 18 years of age and ordinarily resident in Australia at the time of the commencement of this proceeding arising from emissions of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere.
[3] Writing in The Guardian in April 2022, just prior to the general election, Sharma addressed the nation's concern surrounding climate change in contrast to the government's lack of political will: "...with 114 new fossil fuel projects in the pipeline, and a two-party system with deeply ingrained ties to big coal and gas, what our major parties are promising is the exact opposite".