Australia Approves 40-year Extension For Contentious Gas Plant
Australia on Wednesday approved a 40-year extension to a major liquified gas plant, brushing off protests from Pacific island neighbours fearful it will inflame climate damage.
The North West Shelf is a sprawling industrial complex of offshore rigs and processing factories pumping out more than 10 million tonnes of liquified gas and petroleum each year.
Run by resources giant Woodside, it is one of the world's largest producers of liquified natural gas -- and one of Australia's biggest polluters.
Originally slated to close in five years' time, Environment Minister Murray Watt on Wednesday approved an extension to keep it running until 2070.
In a statement, Watt said he approved the extension "subject to strict conditions" designed to limit the impact of emissions.
Neighbouring Pacific islands, already seeing their coastlines eaten away by rising seas, had urged Australia to shut down the plant.
"Pacific leaders have made it clear -- there is no future for our nations if fossil fuel expansion continues," said Tuvalu Climate Change Minister Maina Talia.
"The North West Shelf extension would lock in emissions until 2070, threatening our survival and violating the spirit of the Pacific-Australia climate partnership," he said ahead of this week's decision.
Australia insists that extending the plant -- which each year emits millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas -- does not tarnish a pledge to reach net zero by 2050.
But it poses an awkward diplomatic problem as Australia seeks to host next year's UN climate conference alongside Pacific island nations.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said liquified natural gas -- a fossil fuel -- would bridge the gap while more renewables were plugged into Australia's power grid.
"You can't have renewables unless you have firming capacity. It's as simple as that," he said this week.
"You don't change a transition through warm thoughts."
The Woodside plant straddles Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, a region home to some of the country's best-preserved Aboriginal rock art.
A monitoring program is still trying to determine if industrial air pollution was degrading the engravings, some of which are thought to be 40,000 years old.
Watt said "adequate protection for the rock art" was central to his decision.
Aboriginal leaders have tried in vain to stop the extension.
"The toxins that spew out, we see this on a daily basis," Raelene Cooper said ahead of the government's decision.
"No one had a say when all this happened. Government never come to us. Woodside never come to us."
The project consistently ranks among Australia's five largest emitters of greenhouse gas, according to figures from the country's Clean Energy Regulator.
Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap heat as they collect in the atmosphere, fuelling climate change.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
3 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Tens Of Thousands Join Pro-Palestinian Marches In London And Berlin
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in London and Berlin on Saturday calling for an end to the war in Gaza, amid concerns that the Iran-Israel conflict could spark wider regional devastation. Protesters in the British capital waved Palestinian flags, donned keffiyeh scarves and carried signs including "Stop arming Israel" and "No war on Iran" as they marched in the sweltering heat. "It's important to remember that people are suffering in Gaza. I fear all the focus will be on Iran now," said 34-year-old Harry Baker, attending his third pro-Palestinian protest. "I don't have great love for the Iranian regime, but we are now in a dangerous situation," he added. There have been monthly protests in the British capital since the start of the 20-month-long war between Israel and Hamas, which has ravaged Gaza. Saturday's march comes amid heightened global tensions as the United States mulls joining Israel's strikes against Iran. Cries of "Palestine will be free" rang out as protesters carried signs saying "Hands off Gaza" or "Stop starving Gaza". Gaza is suffering from famine-like conditions according to UN agencies in the region following an Israeli aid blockade. Gaza's civil defence agency has reported that hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to reach the US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution sites. "People need to keep their eyes on Gaza. That's where the genocide is happening," said 60-year-old protester Nicky Marcus. "I feel frustrated, angry because of what's happening in Gaza," said 31-year-old data analyst Jose Diaz. "It's in everyone's eyes. It's still on after so many months," Diaz added. The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out has reached at least 55,637 people, according to the health ministry. Israel has denied it is carrying out a genocide and says it aims to wipe out Hamas after 1,219 people were killed in Israel by the Islamist group's October 7, 2023, attack. A 31-year-old Iranian student who did not want to share her name, told AFP she had family in Iran and was "scared". "I'm worried about my country. I know the regime is not good but it's still my country. I'm scared," she said. Tehran said over 400 people have been killed in Iran since Israel launched strikes last week claiming its arch-foe was close to acquiring a nuclear weapon, which Iran denies. Some 25 people have been killed in Israel, according to official figures. In Berlin, more than 10,000 people gathered in the centre of the city in support of Gaza, according to police figures. "You can't sit on the sofa and be silent. Now is the time when we all need to speak up," said protestor Gundula, who did not want to give her second name. For Marwan Radwan, the point of the protest was to bring attention to the "genocide currently taking place" and the "dirty work" being done by the German government. In Berlin, more than 10,000 people gathered, said police AFP Protesters in London waved Palestinian flags and carried signs including 'Stop arming Israel' and 'No war on Iran' AFP
DW
15 hours ago
- DW
Israel says it launched strikes on Iran missile facilities – DW – 06/21/2025
Renewed strikes in Israel and Iran come after Tehran ruled out a return to nuclear talks until Israel halts its strikes, and Israel's army told Israelis to brace for a "prolonged campaign." According to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's estimates, Israel's attacks on Iran have slowed down the Islamic Republic's development of a nuclear bomb by several years. "I believe, according to the assessments we hear, we have already delayed their ability to obtain a nuclear bomb by at least two or three years," Saar said in an interview with the German tabloid newspaper. "The fact that we have eliminated those individuals who led and advanced the weaponization of the nuclear program is extremely important in terms of the results," he said. "We have already achieved a lot. But we will do whatever we can. We will not stop until we have done everything possible to eliminate this threat," Saar said. The conflict between Israel and Iran erupted a week ago with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. The Iranian state news agency Tasnim named the "martyred" scientists as "Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feqhi, Motalleblizadeh, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi." Israel is convinced that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, an accusation that Iranian leadership has repeatedly rejected. Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is meant for civilian rather than military purposes. However, experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN watchdog which inspects nuclear facilities, have questioned and criticized the Iranian claims. The German air force evacuated 64 citizens from Israel who arrived in Cologne on Friday. The Airbus A400M military aircraft touched down at Cologne/Bonn Airport. This is the first time the German air force has flown German citizens out of Israel since the conflict with Iran escalated about a week ago. The group of German citizens was flown out of Israel as part of a "diplomatic evacuation," the German government said. "The flights were carried out at short notice in close coordination with the Israeli authorities and were primarily intended for families with children and other vulnerable persons." In the past two days, Germany had begun evacuating its citizens on special flights, though not directly from Israel, but rather from Jordan. Around 2:30 a.m. in Israel (2330 GMT on Friday), the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel said its defense system intercepted the missiles over Tel Aviv. The Israeli air force also said Saturday it had launched a new wave of airstrikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran, on the ninth day of conflict between the two countries. Israel's armed forces chief, Eyal Zamir, warned that his country should be "ready for a prolonged campaign" against Iran, as the war entered its second week. Zamir's statement echoed earlier remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the fighting would continue "for as long as it takes." A meeting of the foreign ministers of three European countries with their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, came to an end Friday in Geneva, with the ministers from Germany and France voicing hope over future talks. Araghchi, meanwhile, said Iran would not return to talks about its nuclear program until Israeli "aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes." US President Donald Trump said on Friday Iran has a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible US military strikes, one day after stating he would decide within a fortnight whether to take action. Welcome to DW's coverage of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. The nuclear talks in Geneva ended on Friday with no conclusion. The date for the next round of talks has not been decided. Meanwhile, Iran and Israel have resumed attacks against each other. In addition to the latest news, this blog will bring you photos, videos, analyses and on-the-ground reporting from DW correspondents.
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Int'l Business Times
World Bank And IMF Climate Snub 'Worrying': COP29 Presidency
The hosts of the most recent UN climate talks are worried international lenders are retreating from their commitments to help boost funding for developing countries' response to global warming. This anxiety has grown as the Trump administration has slashed foreign aid and discouraged US-based development lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund from focussing on climate finance. Developing nations, excluding China, will need an estimated $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 in financial assistance to transition to renewable energy and climate-proof their economies from increasing weather extremes. But nowhere near this amount has been committed. At last year's UN COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, rich nations agreed to increase climate finance to $300 billion a year by 2035, an amount decried as woefully inadequate. Azerbaijan and Brazil, which is hosting this year's COP30 conference, have launched an initiative to plug the shortfall that includes expectations of "significant" contributions from international lenders. But so far only two -- the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank -- have responded to a call to engage the initiative with ideas, said COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev. "We call on their shareholders to urgently help us to address these concerns," he told climate negotiators at a high-level summit in the German city of Bonn this week. "We fear that a complex and volatile global environment is distracting" many of those expected to play a big role in bridging the climate finance gap, he added. His team travelled to Washington in April for the IMF and World Bank's spring meetings hoping to find the same enthusiasm for climate lending they had encountered a year earlier. But instead they found institutions "very much reluctant now to talk about climate at all", said Azerbaijan's top climate negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev. This was a "worrisome trend", he said, given expectations these lenders would extend the finance needed in the absence of other sources. "They're very much needed," he said. The United States, the World Bank's biggest shareholder, has sent a different message. On the sidelines of the April spring meetings, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged the bank to focus on "dependable technologies" rather than "distortionary climate finance targets." This could mean investing in gas and other fossil fuel-based energy production, he said. Under the Paris Agreement, wealthy developed countries -- those most responsible for global warming to date -- are obligated to pay climate finance to poorer nations. But other countries, most notably China, do make their own voluntary contributions. Finance is a source of long-running tensions at UN climate negotiations. Donors have consistently failed to deliver on past finance pledges, and committed well below what experts agree developing nations need to prepare for the climate crisis. The issue flared again this week in Bonn, with nations at odds over whether to debate financial commitments from rich countries during the formal meetings. European nations have also pared back their foreign aid spending in recent months, raising fears that budgets for climate finance could also face a haircut. At COP29, multilateral development banks (MDBs) led by the World Bank Group estimated they could provide $120 billion annually in climate financing to low and middle income countries, and mobilise another $65 billion from the private sector by 2030. Their estimate for high income countries was $50 billion, with another $65 billion mobilised from the private sector. Rob Moore, of policy think tank E3G, said these lenders are the largest providers of international public finance to developing countries. "Whilst they are facing difficult political headwinds in some quarters, they would be doing both themselves and their clients a disservice by disengaging on climate change," he said. The World Bank in particular has done "a huge amount of work" to align its lending with global climate goals. "If they choose to step back this would be at their own detriment, and other banks like the regionally based MDBs would likely play a bigger role in shaping the economy of the future," he said. The World Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
