WA’s gas expansion undermines Australia’s climate targets, analysis finds

Western Australia is the only Australian state without an interim target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before 2050, and its annual pollution has risen 17% since 2005, threatening the nation’s climate commitments.

Premier Roger Cook’s government has backed fossil fuel expansions and argued that increased emissions from gas exports benefit the climate by reducing coal use in Asia.

Leaked documents, however, indicate that Western Australia’s gas exports risk slowing Asia’s shift to clean energy.

The state plans to drop a long-promised legislated target for emission reductions by 2030, instead setting goals for renewable energy and carbon capture starting in 2035.

The legislation would retain the net zero by 2050 target but omit interim benchmarks that chart a pathway to that goal.

A modelling report commissioned by Woodside, Australia’s largest gas company, found the state could miss the 2050 net zero target by decades even without the contentious Browse basin development.

Deloitte Access Economics estimated that achieving net zero would require renewable energy deployment at 11 times the rate of the past decade.

The report focused on the economic benefits of the Browse project and did not mention the cost of emissions from burning the gas.

Western Australia stands alone among states in lacking interim pollution targets.

Other states have set goals to cut emissions by roughly half or more by 2035 from 2005 levels.

The scientific consensus calls for deep emissions cuts rapidly, making delay unacceptable.

Gas is a fossil fuel; when extracted and burned, its lifecycle emissions can be dirtier than coal.

A responsible government should minimize gas use and promote alternatives.

The federal government rejected a gas tax that would have increased revenue from multinational petroleum companies.

It approved expansion of Chevron’s Gorgon project off Western Australia.

The North West Shelf gas processing plant was granted a life extension until 2070.

A decision on the Browse gas basin development is expected before the end of the year.

Experts say there is a stronger than usual legal case that the Browse project could be blocked on environmental grounds due to risks to protected species.

The Scott Reef area, where drilling would occur, is home to migratory whales, threatened turtles, sea snakes, and over 1,500 other species.

Australian governments have shown little willingness to deny fossil fuel companies’ requests, particularly in Western Australia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces a question of whether he will act to ensure his vaunted climate targets are met, given Western Australia’s resistance to change.