Pacific island leaders are calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to deny the extension of the North West Shelf gas project. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Pacific Island leaders have banded together to call on Anthony Albanese to reject the extension of Woodside Energy’s North West Shelf gas project in order to be “worthy” of co-hosting the COP31 climate change conference in the region.
The Prime Minister’s decision (through Environment Minister Murray Watt) is expected anytime soon.
The West Australian Government gave its approval last year to extend the project until 2070, with the Federal Government’s overriding decision imminent.
It is widely anticipated that federal approval will be forthcoming.
Pacific Island nations, however, are distraught at the prospect of large-scale fossil fuel pollution continuing to threaten their survival for many more decades.
They are now using the spectre of the United Nations’ highest-level deliberations over climate change to try to persuade the Australian Government to red light the project’s extension.
They say Australia’s credibility on climate change will be severely damaged if it approves the gas project’s extension.
“With just weeks until Australia learns the fate of its bid to co-host COP31, Pacific leaders are calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recently re-elected government to reject Woodside Energy’s proposed extension of the North West Shelf gas project out to 2070,” they said in a statement.
“The decision, expected this week, is a chance for the Australian Government to show it is worthy of hosting the biggest international climate negotiations, to deepen trust with its voters and the neighbouring Pacific Island States calling for stronger climate action, to reset the country’s direction showing political will and true climate leadership, and chart a bold course away from fossil dependence and toward a future free from oil, gas, and coal.
“The North West Shelf Extension proposal would allow one of Australia’s oldest LNG processing plants, located in the Murujuga cultural landscape and home to sacred Aboriginal rock art, to continue to operate until 2070. In terms of emissions, the project would generate more than 4 billion tonnes of CO2, equivalent to over 200 years of combined emissions for the 14 Pacific Small Island Developing States (Cook Islands, Federated State of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu).”
Tuvalu’s Climate Change and Environment Minister Maina Talia was even stronger in his linking the gas project to Australia’s desire to co-host the climate summit.
“Pacific leaders have made it clear: there is no future for our nations if fossil fuel expansion continues,” he said.
“The North West Shelf Extension would lock in emissions until 2070, threatening our survival and violating the spirit of the Pacific-Australia climate partnership.
“If Australia wants to host COP31 with us, it must uphold the trust we placed in it by permanently rejecting this project.
“This goes beyond politics. It is about the moral clarity to stand with those most affected by climate change.”
Pacific leaders have consistently called for a global just transition away from fossil fuels, including through spearheading the proposal for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, supporting the proposal for a Fossil Free Pacific and increased investments in the transition to be the world’s first 100 per cent renewable energy-powered region.
Auimatagi Joe Moeono-Kolio, chief advisor for the Pacific on the treaty initiative, said every new gas project is a step backwards.
“The Pacific is calling for a just and equitable fossil fuel phase-out, not fossil fuel lock-in until 2070,” he said.
“This is about matching rhetoric to action. Rejecting the North West Shelf extension would fulfil the Australian Government’s promise to its Pacific neighbours that they are serious about regional cooperation and solidarity in this struggle.
“Approving it would signal the opposite. Prime Minister Albanese: the Pacific is watching. Will you stand with us, or with the polluters?”
While welcoming signs of deeper cooperation between Australia and island nations, civil society leaders warn that approving the North West Shelf Extension would undermine that trust.
“This moment presents a historic opportunity for Australia to demonstrate that it is not only serious about hosting COP31, but also serious about tackling the root cause of climate change: fossil fuel extraction,” their statement said.
“Rejecting the North West Shelf Extension would send a clear message that Australia is ready to stand with the Pacific in leading the world toward a fossil-free future.”
