Oz Labor Government Approves Another 40 Years For Biggest GHG Source In S. Hemisphere - 88 Million Tons CO2E/Year

The Albanese government has approved an extension to 2070 of one of the world’s biggest gas export projects, saying it has agreed on conditions to protect more than 1 million pieces of ancient world heritage-listed Indigenous rock art that sit nearby. Climate campaigners have described Woodside’s North West Shelf extension as a “carbon bomb” incompatible with global climate goals. The approval was met with fury from conservation groups and the Greens on Friday, who said it was a “betrayal” of Australians who wanted climate action.

The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, proposed an approval for the Western Australian project in May but his department had since been in talks with Woodside about conditions relating to nitrous oxide emissions. The detail of those conditions was not made public at the time. The extension allows Woodside to keep operating its Karratha plant, which processes and liquifies gas for export, beyond 2030 and to 2070.

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Conservation groups have described the North West Shelf project as the most polluting project in the southern hemisphere, with estimates of total emissions above 4bn tonnes of CO2-equivalent. Gavan McFadzean, climate program manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), said it “beggars belief that the Albanese government would choose to detonate this carbon bomb”. “With this decision, prime minister Albanese has betrayed Australians who voted for him, believing he was serious about acting on climate change.”

According to Woodside’s own reports, the project extension will be responsible for 87.9m tonnes of CO2-e per year, including the greenhouse gases released when the gas is sold and burned, mostly overseas. This is the equivalent to about 20% of Australia’s current annual carbon footprint.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/12/north-west-shelf-gas-project-extended-to-2070-with-partial-protection-for-indigenous-rock-art