Australia’s Gas Gamble: Global, Cultural, Legal, and Climate Fallout - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Woodside North West Shelf Gas Project Approval
ignites climate cultural and legal backlash at home and abroad

Key points

The extension enables 90 million tonnes of emissions per year1 Murujuga rock art faces ongoing acid gas risk1 Energy prices in WA have already tripled since last export expansion1 The project is royalty-free, gifting up to $215 billion in gas1 Australia’s international legal exposure is likely to increase2 Project will consume 6% of the global 1.5°C carbon budget2 Direct conflict with Pacific Island climate priorities2

Social Impacts

The North West Shelf project promises jobs and secure energy supply for some, but will disproportionately affect marginalised communities near the gas hub.¹

Indigenous leaders and heritage advocates fear lasting damage to the Murujuga petroglyphs, with government conditions seen as vague and industry-driven.¹

Pacific nations see the expansion as an existential threat, with warming and sea-level rise directly tied to expanded fossil gas output.²

Economic Impacts

Federal and Western Australian authorities tout economic security, yet analysis shows a looming domestic gas shortage, even as exporters are given royalty-free rights to enough reserves to supply WA for 90 years.¹

Wholesale gas and electricity prices have already tripled in WA since the last wave of gas exports, and the manufacturing sector remains exposed to the volatility of international energy markets.¹

The Australia Institute calls the no-royalty arrangement “the greatest giveaway of Australian resources ever”, a windfall for Woodside but a fiscal hit for the taxpayer equivalent to four years of the national defence budget.¹

Ecological Impacts

Projected greenhouse emissions—90 million tonnes a year—will make this extension equivalent to twelve new coal power stations.¹

Climate scientists warn Woodside’s full Burrup Hub, including the North West Shelf, will consume 6% of the world’s remaining 1.5°C carbon budget, with ongoing warming consequences lasting centuries.²

Heat-related damages globally are projected to reach A$272 billion as emissions fuel more extreme temperatures and Arctic sea ice loss.²

Political Impacts

The decision’s timing—immediately after the Pacific Islands’ annual climate summit—was read as a rejection of regional climate priorities and leadership aspirations.²

Fossil fuel interests appear favoured over climate targets, and critics say the move undermines both Prime Minister Albanese’s climate promises and international Paris Agreement obligations.²

Legal experts cite Australia’s exposure to action in international courts under the recent ICJ advisory opinion classifying such approvals as “wrongful acts”.²

Cultural Impacts

Murujuga, recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, faces decades of acid gas accumulation eroding its ancient petroglyphs.¹

Indigenous custodians and climate advocates are demanding tighter controls and transparency regarding emissions and corporate influence over heritage management.¹

Many Australians consider the approval a betrayal of both cultural stewardship and intergenerational fairness.^1  2

Global Reverberations

Australia’s approval sets a precedent for fossil expansion in advanced economies, risking reputational damage just as world leaders urge accelerated emissions reduction.²

Critics say the project will leave Australia out of step with renewable energy leadership and climate diplomacy.²

Climate Analytics: North West Shelf and Woodside's Burrup Hub Quick Facts

• Total emissions from Woodside's full Burrup Hub project (the North West Shelf and Pluto projects combined) will consume 6% of the remaining global carbon budget for 1.5˚C. It will impose six billion tonnes of CO2 removal obligations on future generations.
• The NWS approval to 2070 allows Woodside to emit double its historical emissions
• It could allow about twice the cumulative GHG emissions to occur from 2026 until 2070 than have occurred since the project started in the 1980s.
• The total cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from the NWS LNG plant until 2070 will be 80% of the 1.5°C aligned pathway emissions for Australia as a whole.
• Woodside's plant will be still emitting greenhouse gases 20 years after Australia is supposed to have reached net zero.
• Woodside’s Burrup Hub will cause 16,000 km² loss of Arctic sea ice.
• NWS emissions could cost US$176 billion in extreme heat-related damages globally and Burrup Hub US$272 billion.
• Warming from NWS emissions will continue for thousands of years: 30-40% of NWS CO2 emissions will remain in atmosphere in 100 years,10-20% in 10,000 years.

References

1. Australia Institute. “North West Shelf final approval a climate, economic and energy security disaster”, Sept. 2025
2. Climate Analytics. “Australian government gaslights the nation as it puts Woodside ahead of the World and the Pacific”, Sept. 2025
3. Lyrebird Dreaming. "Gas, Coal and Greenwash: Why Australia Doesn’t Deserve to Host COP31", Sept. 2025
4. SBS. Fossil fuel project that threatens cultural treasures approved with conditions to run to 2070. Sept. 2025

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