This comes as experts this week warned that the Great Barrier Reef may be suffering its ‘most severe’ bleaching on record with damage extending up to 18 metres below the surface, and coral mortality beginning to unfold.

2023 saw the hottest ocean temperatures ever recorded — “astounding” levels of heat which supercharged freak weather events around the world. Bleaching-level heat stress, fuelled by the climate crisis, continues to be extensive across the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. 

David Ritter, CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said that following on from what was the hottest year on record, news of a worldwide coral bleaching is another red alert for Earth, and all the life it sustains.

“Mere days after researchers confirmed the most severe coral bleaching on record for the Great Barrier Reef, international agencies have announced that the world is experiencing its fourth global coral bleaching event. 

“The blame for the existential danger facing our reefs lays squarely with the main culprits fuelling global warming: fossil fuel companies, and the governments who prop up this industry.

“The science is crystal clear that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is warming our oceans and leading to increasingly severe and frequent coral bleaching events worldwide. Corals die when bleaching events are too prolonged or severe.

“Every government decision to allow more coal, oil, and gas to be extracted and burned is a deadly blow to the future of the Great Barrier Reef, and reefs worldwide. The loss of reefs would have devastating ecological and economic consequences for billions of people worldwide — including our Pacific neighbours whose very culture and identities are intrinsically entwined with the ocean.

“We are running out of runway to avoid irreversible climate disaster, and must act quickly to ensure an immediate end to new fossil fuels. Governments and decision makers simply cannot allow new fossil fuel projects to go ahead if we want to address climate change and give the Great Barrier Reef and all reefs a fighting chance at survival.”

—ENDS—

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has today officially confirmed that the World Heritage-listed wonder is undergoing a seventh mass coral bleaching event — the fifth in just eight years.

The confirmation is a dire warning about the future of Australia’s marine icon. In a video statement, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has said that the Australian government is doing everything they can to, “give our beautiful reef the best chance of survival,” however Australia is the third largest fossil fuel exporter in the world and a major contributor to the climate crisis.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO, David Ritter, said that while the news was expected, the official confirmation of a seventh mass bleaching event is a devastating blow.

“Just three weeks ago I was snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns. It was beautiful, but we witnessed the beginning stages of this event unfolding, with patchy coral bleaching at both sites we visited. 

“We know that the climate crisis is driving deadly marine heatwaves and devastating our marine ecosystems, but the frequency and scale at which these mass bleaching events are now occurring is frightening — every summer we’re holding our breath.

“Last year the Great Barrier Reef narrowly avoided an ‘In Danger’ listing, with the Australian government promising to do everything it can to protect the Reef. This has to include addressing climate change as an existential threat to the reef, and ensuring our emissions reductions plans are aligned with a 1.5 degree pathway. 

“Claims that Australia is taking the health of the Great Barrier Reef seriously ring hollow when we continue to expand and subsidise the coal and gas industry to the tune of billions every year. The Australian government can not in good faith approve climate bombs like Woodside’s Burrup Hub and say that they care about the Reef’s future.”

Speaking at the UN General Assembly Meeting in New York, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that Australia will sign the High Seas Treaty alongside dozens of other nations. The legally-binding pact, agreed in March, must still be ratified by individual countries before it comes into effect.

“We welcome the tremendous news from New York that the Australian Government will sign the High Seas Treaty — a critical step forward in the fight to protect our global oceans from the myriad threats they face”, Ritter said.

“The Treaty is a powerful tool to protect our oceans. Now the Australian government must act just as swiftly to deliver protected ocean sanctuaries where marine life can recover and thrive, including the South Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand which has been identified as an area of ecological significance. 

“While the Australian Government must be applauded for this historic decision, it must also act in line with the irrefutable science that fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis, which is having severe consequences on marine environments in Australia and the Pacific. If left unchecked, climate impacts will devastate fisheries, ecosystems and economies.

“This week, the Bureau of Meteorology officially declared an El Niño weather event for Australia, meaning a summer of brutal heatwaves and extreme weather looms. Just weeks into Spring, we’ve already seen ‘off-the-scale’ ocean temperatures recorded in the Tasman Sea, and the threat of another mass coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef looks increasingly likely. 

“The expansion of the fossil fuel industry is incompatible with a healthy marine environment. We urge Minister Plibersek to recognise the enormous threat that projects like Woodside’s Burrup Hub pose to our oceans and to knock back this disastrous proposal.”

—ENDS—

Images for media use can be found here

We probably don’t need to remind you why the Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Having been a part of UNESCO’s World Heritage Listings since 1981, and with biodiversity as far as the eye can see (and beyond!), it’s home to 1625 types of fish, 30 species of whales and dolphins, and 600 types of coral, amongst many other species of marine wildlife. 

Aerial photograph of the Great Barrier Reef.

Sadly, we also probably don’t need to remind you that over the past 20 years, the world’s largest coral reef system has continued to make headlines for a series of mass coral bleaching events (6 to be precise) across 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022 – driven by the devastating impacts of climate change. 

That’s why UNESCO’s draft decision to not declare the Great Barrier Reef as  “in danger” ahead of the World Heritage Committee’s final vote in September has come as a disappointing blow to marine scientists and environmental organisations (including yours truly) – especially since we know the recent results from an official UN visit back in 2022 concluded Australia is not doing enough to protect the reef from climate change and more mass bleaching events in the near future. 

Greenpeace “Protect the Reef” campaign action in North Queensland.

Our planet continues to urge us to take immediate action against all the climate change driven disasters seen around the world this year. These, amongst many others are signs that our planet is exhibiting some serious red flags that need addressing.

What are some of these environmental red flags?

Our planet continues to warn us that we cannot continue on our current trajectory. And this year has proven to be no different. From the hottest month on record to what’s looking like the hottest year, here are some of the top environmental red flags of 2023 to remind us why the Great Barrier Reef (as well as many other species and natural environments) should be treated as “in danger”: 

The hottest month on record

Earlier this year, the World Meteorological Organisation confirmed that July was officially the hottest month on record at a global scale. Global temperatures during the month averaged 16.95C, surpassing the previous record by 0.33C set back in 2019. The devastating effects of extreme heatwaves was widely reported in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Bureau of Meteorology has issued warnings for Australia and what we could expect over the coming months as we move towards our summer season.

The hottest year on record

That brings us to the world’s official hottest year on record. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have shown more than a 50% chance that 2023 will be the warmest year on record. This of course follows the unprecedented heatwaves across Europe, a rapidly strengthening El Niño weather event, and alarmingly high temperatures across Asia and parts of the Pacific, as well as a number of heartbreaking wildfires reported across Greece and Maui.

Ocean temperatures

Unsurprisingly but equally as concerning, average oceanic temperatures have also been at an all time high (as reported by the Copernicus Climate Change Service), with scientists reporting that the world’s oceans have been running a fever since March this year. But that’s not the only indication of the serious impacts climate change is having on our oceans, with scientists now reporting the colour of our oceans is also even changing more from blue to green. 

New fossil fuel developments
A recent report by the Australia Institute has outlined the frighteningly high number of new fossil fuel developments this year – 116 to be exact. And if all these projects were to go ahead as planned, that would add roughly 4.8 billion tonnes of emissions into the atmosphere by 2030. 

One new fossil fuel development of course being Woodside’s dangerous plans for the Burrup Hub. The most polluting fossil fuel project currently proposed in Australia, that if completed, would produce climate-wrecking gas until 2070. The project threatens endangered whale and turtle nesting habitat through dangerous dredging and seismic blasting, and another nearby UNESCO protected area – Ningaloo Reef. 

Corals and marine wildlife in Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.

“Projects like the massive Woodside proposal, which would be the largest green house gas emitting project to come forward in Australia, simply cannot go ahead if we are going to be consistent with what is necessary to keep global warming under 1.5°C and give the Great Barrier Reef a fighting chance” as stated by Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO.

The bottom line: We know that the fossil fuel industry is a major contributor to the climate crisis our planet is currently facing. We know that pollution and climate change (driven by the burning of fossil fuels) has been identified as the number one threat to the Great Barrier Reef. We also know that we cannot afford to further invest in the development of new fossil fuel projects.

What we truly need now more than ever, is strong climate targets that align with the efforts to limit global temperature to increase to 1.5°C – that protect our planet and biodiversity treasures like the Great Barrier Reef.

Ten years ago, Western Australian company Woodside Energy and its joint venture partners exited a planned $80 billion Browse LNG project at Walmadany (James Price Point). It took one of the biggest most effective environmental campaigns in Australia’s history to win. Traditional Custodians and the local community, with national and international support, protected the Kimberley coast from the world’s biggest gas refineries and ensuing industrialisation.

Walmadany, with its endangered monsoon vine thickets, turtle nesting beaches, bilbies, and the world’s biggest fossilised dinosaur footprints, was saved. Its numerous shell middens, songlines, burial sites and priceless Aboriginal heritage, were shielded from 30km² of concrete and the adjacent ocean was defended from becoming a 50km² ‘deadzone’ as described in the government’s own reports.

‘Protect Songlines’ – a plea from Traditional Custodians Phillip Roe, Eric Hunter and Richard Hunter © Damian Kelly

Ten years later and the fossil fuel industry is back, determined to burn every last molecule of methane, regardless of the cost to our climate and risks and damage to the world’s top natural refuges.

I’ve been here before. The fossil fuel industry will stop at nothing to make obscene profits, regardless of the damage to ecosystems, water reserves and climate. We have no choice; we must keep fighting together until the region is protected.

The new fight is to stop the Kimberley’s world-renowned landscapes from being turned into a fracking hell. Oil and gas companies are wanting to build vast gas fields on land in the Kimberley’s Canning Basin, requiring thousands of wells to feed an export pipeline. Buru Energy is flagging a floating LNG facility in the National Heritage-listed King Sound – a vast expanse of water last stronghold of the critically endangered freshwater sawfish, fringed with mangrove systems and rich mudflats supporting saltwater crocodiles and. The Martuwarra Fitzroy, a National Heritage listed river, flows into King Sound, creating a rich ecosystem with one of the highest tides in the world.

Oil and gas exploration well pad encroaching on the King Sound mangrove system © Damian Kelly

If fracking went ahead, the carbon pollution could be more than Australia’s Paris Agreement carbon budget for energy twice over. The Kimberley conservation community has been holding back the tide of fracking by raising awareness, leading protests, lobbying government, sending tens of thousands of submissions to the Environment Protection Authority and holding industry to account.

Woodside and its joint venture partners, with BP the biggest backer, is again out in the Browse Basin, focusing on drilling around the Scott Reef, 400km of the Kimberley coast. This time they want to pipe the gas, which has a high CO2 content, to the Pilbara to process at existing facilities. The gas factory would trigger a carbon bomb of six billion tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. An oil spill would devastate Scott Reef and threaten the Pygmy Whales who travel here annually.

The Rainbow Warrior, which visited Broome to support the ‘Whales not Woodside’ campaign, was warmly welcomed by Kimberley locals, who came onboard, to keep Browse Basin gas in the ground and to stop fracking in the Kimberley.

Having the Rainbow Warrior here and sharing information about our campaigns in the Kimberley and offshore, and hearing the Traditional Owners’ concerns about climate change, was an event that energised us all. A decade ago, the Kimberley community rallied to shut down Woodside’s proposed Browse LNG gas terminal at James Price Point. We won.

Now, we are ready to show a force of strength again against Buru Energy, and let them know the community is behind us, and we wont stand for their new plans.

By Martin Pritchard – Director of Strategy, Environs Kimberley

The Abrolhos Islands are a biodiversity hotspot, and a designated Mission Blue Hope Spot, a place identified as critical to ocean health. They are one of the world’s most important breeding grounds for seabirds, home to colourful fish, dolphins, sharks and a plethora of wild and beautiful marine life.

The Abrolhos Islands have a dark past. They were the site of one of Australia’s most gruesome historical incidents, the shipwreck and bloody mutiny of the Dutch ship Batavia. A band of mutineers carried out a brief, savage reign of terror, murdering 125 men, women and children over a few short months.

But this site of historical mayhem has now become a crucial place of refuge for coral. These islands are home to some of Australia’s most unique corals. The fringing reefs surrounding the Abrolhos are the southernmost tropical corals found in the Indian Ocean. This is one of the few places in the world where you can find sea lions and coral reefs in the same place.

We have docked at the Abrolhos to document the coral here and to assess its health, with our on-board marine biologists Franzi, an oceans campaigner from Greenpeace Germany, and Dr Olaf Meynecke. The cooler southern waters mean that the Abrolhos coral hasn’t suffered the same catastrophic climate change-driven bleaching that we’ve seen in many parts of the Great Barrier Reef.

Branching corals, which are fast disappearing from tropical waters on the Australian east coast, are in abundance here, threaded with flickering, colourful fish. Sea lions watch us lazily from the beach while seabirds glide silently overhead, occasionally diving to snatch at the turquoise water.

But this ocean paradise is vulnerable to climate damage. Cooler waters have protected the coral of the Abrolhos Islands until now but with oceans warming at an alarming rate the threat is escalating. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned in its most recent report that if global warming exceeds the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees, our last coral refuges, like the Abrolhos, will disappear.

Fossil fuel company Woodside’s plans for its vast Burrup Hub gas project put these fragile, beautiful corals at risk. The Burrup Hub is set to release over six billion tonnes of climate pollution if it goes ahead, and will keep on pumping out toxic emissions all the way through to 2070. That’s well beyond the timeline that we need to cut emissions by if we want to protect coral.

The coral refuge of the Abrolhos Islands is too important to lose. We must act now to protect this wild and special place.

Email your MP today.

By Fiona Ivits

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (aka the IPCC) published its first report back in 1990. Now, currently in its Sixth Assessment cycle, the IPCC is due to release its latest climate report, known as the AR6 Synthesis Report, early this week.

But at this point, you might be wondering, what even is the IPCC? Why are their climate reports so important? And for that matter, what have I missed about 1.5°C? Don’t worry. We got you.

What is the IPCC?

Let’s start from the top. The IPCC is the leading international body for the scientific assessment of climate change. It’s a bit of a mouthful we know. Basically, the IPCC brings together the top climate scientists from around the world, to colate and assess all of the latest science related to climate change.

Operating under the United Nations, with 195 governments as its members, these assessment reports become much-needed textbooks for world leaders, and fundamental policy documents to help inform governments on decision-making relating to global climate action during this pivotal decade. No pressure!

How often does the IPCC release a climate report?
This is where is gets a little confusing – so stick with us! We mentioned earlier that the IPCC published its first report back in 1990. Fastforward to 2023, and 47 climate reports later, the IPCC is now finalising what it calls its Sixth Assessment cycle (hence the name AR6).

So the AR6 Synthesis Report is based on the content of the Sixth cycle, summarising findings of the last 6 reports released by the IPCC since 2015, including:

Three main reports from what’s known as Working Groups (The Physical Science Basis, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, and Mitigation of Climate Change), plus three other Special ‘Bonus’ Reports (Global Warming of 1.5°C, Climate Change and Land, The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate).

What is expected to come from the latest IPCC report?
The upcoming synthesis report is just that – a synthesis. It covers and synthesises the science in the previous 6 reports of this cycle that began with the Special Report into 1.5°C.

That means that no new information or science will be added.

Okay, but what does the 1.5°C target mean?
Remember back in 2015, when world leaders adopted the legally binding Paris Agreement?

Well, that now-infamous pinky promise by governments was done to tackle climate change, with the overarching goal to hold global average temperatures to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels”, as well as to “pursue efforts” to keep dangerous global warming temperatures limited to 1.5°C.

Why is 1.5°C such a big deal?

It’s the golden science-backed-number of maximum global temperature increase in order to sustain all current levels of life and biodiversity on planet Earth. No biggie.

The target is set against a benchmark pre-industrial times, dating back to 1850, to compare the rise in global temperatures.

How close are we to 1.5°C of warming?
The bad news is, that science tells us that average global temperatures caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are already responsible for approximately 1.1°C of warming since the 1850s.

…And averaged over the next 20 years, should temperatures continue to increase at the current rate, global temperatures are expected to temporarily “overshoot” or exceed 1.5°C of warming. 

BUT! The good news is, and despite what some media outlets may report, pathways to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting 1.5°C of warming by 2100 are absolutely still achievable.

What matters now is to lower emissions as quickly as possible, through immediate emission reductions (aka no more investment in any new dirty fossil fuel projects), nature restoration, and carbon removal. 

In the wise words of Sir David Attenborough, “If working apart we are forces powerful enough to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it. Perhaps the fact that the people most affected by climate change are no longer some imagined future generation but young people alive today, perhaps that will give us the impetus we need to rewrite our history.”

The North West Shelf is one of Australia’s oldest and most polluting gas processing plants. Opened in the 1980s, it was due to be decommissioned within the next decade. Instead, Woodside is dusting it off and seeking approval to extend the life of this facility to keep processing gas into the 2070s – well over 20 years past when Australia is meant to reach net zero emissions. The plant is a key piece of infrastructure for Woodside’s Burrup Hub – the most climate polluting fossil fuel project currently proposed in Australia.

Woodside’s North West Shelf gas processing facility in Dampier, WA.

If approved, the North West Shelf extension would belch out over 4 billion tonnes of climate pollution until 2070, posing serious threats to the places and marine animals we love. But if enough people comment, it could send the whole legal process on the North West Shelf back to the beginning – undoing years of Woodside’s work to push this climate wrecking project through.

In July, thanks to fabulous Greenpeace supporters and our allies at the Conservation Council of WA, we were able to lodge a record-breaking number of appeals with WA’s appeal convenor that built pressure on Woodside. And now thanks to great legal work from Environmental Justice Australia and the Environment Council of Central Queensland, our movement is making the national case to Minister Plibersek that the North West Shelf should be reconsidered.

Anyone who is concerned about the climate crisis and its threats to people and nature can help by making a submission today. Will you make yours? We’ve outlined easy steps to follow below.

How to make your comment

1. Go to the EPBC Act public portal
2. Provide a title for your comment. It can be whatever you’d like, but keep it respectful and relevant to your concerns. Example: ‘Reconsider Woodside’s Climate Wrecking Plans’
3. Fill in your name and email, and answer YES to the first question, “Do you consider there is substantial new information available about the impacts the action has…”
4. Write about the new information that has been provided which shows the climate risks that Woodside’s North West Shelf poses to people, places and ecosystems in Australia. This includes:

• Thousands of new documents detailing the climate-related impacts of the North West Shelf extension on nationally significant plants, animals and places in Australia 
• New scientific evidence on the dangers of climate change laid out in the 2021 and 2022 IPCC reports and the 2021 State of the Environment report
• Stating that information on the climate impacts of the project were not properly presented when the original decision was made

You can also talk about the specific Australian places, animals, and plants you care about, that would be negatively impacted by climate change. This could include areas like UNESCO protected Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef, as well as threatened whale and sea turtle species.

5. Answer NO to the second question, “Do you consider there has been a substantial change in circumstances that was not foreseen at the time of the first referral decision…”
6. Leave the text field of the second question blank, or write “N/A”
7. In the space for additional comments, you can write more about why it’s important to you that the Minister make a new decision – and add any further evidence about Australian places, ecosystems, and species at risk that you’re concerned about.
8. Tick whether or not you want your response to be confidential
9. Tick that you have read and understood the privacy policy and Declaration
10. Click SUBMIT to lodge your comment

Make my submission

Remember, submitting your comment is a hugely important step in helping stop Woodside’s climate destruction. If you’ve got a little more time, please also share this blog with your family and friends and encourage them to comment too by 24 November.

Make my submission

Our planet’s oceans face a lot of danger from human activity. Industrial fishing, deep-sea mining, plastic pollution, and global warming are all affecting our blue planet.

Scientists have informed us that by 2030 we need to protect a third of the ocean if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change. 30 x 30, to allow the ocean to heal.

Greenpeace has been conducting research in the Antarctic for presentation to UN meetings that have been taking place throughout the year. Our aim is to raise support for a Global Ocean Treaty that will see 30% of our oceans protected as marine sanctuaries.

In 2019, the Greenpeace ship Esperanza embarked on a pole-to-pole voyage to document human impact on our oceans. The final stop was to Antarctica in 2020, one of the places furthest from human civilisation. Even here, there were still clear impacts such as fishing tools and nets floating in the water.

Celebrating 3 years of work on this campaign, we took our supporters behind the scenes with a digital event in March this year. Journalist and activist Julia Zanolli was involved in the recent Greenpeace research expedition to the Antarctic. She said that due to the remote location of the Antarctic, Greenpeace is one of few organisations with the resources available to study this area.

“Sometimes people ask; what’s your relationship with scientists? How does it work? We pretty much give them a lift. We make sure they can reach places that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to,” she said at the digital event.

This year Greenpeace took scientists to remote areas in the Antarctic to research how the climate crisis and fishing is affecting penguin populations in these places, using a mix of drone technology and artificial intelligence in order to keep track of penguin numbers.

We also provided these scientists with submarines to help document important evidence found underwater. The team were able to dive in 12 different locations never seen before by humans. Providing a stable internet connection also proved essential to Greenpeace’s ability to relay information to the media and update the rest of the world on their findings.

As you can imagine, these technologies do not come cheap and the reason we can afford these assets is truly due to generous supporters like you who believe in our cause.

“These stories wouldn’t have gotten out if it wasn’t for Greenpeace and people like you supporting our work,” Julia said.

None of our actions would be possible without your generous support. It allows us to operate independently and strategically, to respond quickly to environmental news, and to showcase
inspiring stories of ordinary people taking a stand against climate change.

The crew of the Esperanza hold a banner reading “Thank you”, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica.

A record number

759 individuals and organisations each paid $10 to lodge their complaints with WA’s Appeals Convenor – and this figure leaves out those who might not have been able to participate due to reported glitching with the online submission system.

The appellants were voicing their concerns with the recent state environment agency (EPA) recommendation to extend Woodside’s aging North West Shelf onshore gas processing plant, located in Dampier, WA.

The North West Shelf is one of Australia’s oldest and most polluting gas processing plants. Opened in the 1980s, it was due to be decommissioned within the next decade. Instead, Woodside is dusting it off and seeking approval to extend the life of this facility to keep processing gas into the 2070s – well over 20 years past when Australia is meant to reach net zero emissions. The plant is a key piece of infrastructure for Woodside’s Burrup Hub – the most climate polluting fossil fuel project currently proposed in Australia.

The record number of appeals – well over 3 times the previous record for proposed infrastructure in WA – is a big deal. It shows just how much opposition is growing to reckless fossil fuel expansion right now, as climate change and environment issues dominate Australia’s media headlines. Among the appellants was Di Morrisey, famous Australian author, and Greenpeace Germany, showing how this fight over a gas plant in an isolated part of WA is gaining international attention, too.

And it’s not just the 759. Already, over 170,000 people from Australia and around the world have signed on to the petition to stop Woodside from this gas expansion, in one of the most beautiful and biodiverse marine areas in the world.

Why does it matter for Woodside’s Burrup Hub? 

The North West Shelf is a climate disaster in its own right, which without mitigation will produce around 4.3 billion tonnes of climate pollution. But the EPA’s recommended approval could start to pave the way for an even more dangerous planned project, Woodside’s Browse gas field. It is also part of Woodside’s Burrup Hub plan to process gas from dangerous, deep sea gas drilling in WA’s oceans.

Woodside’s plan for its Scarborough and Browse projects – the two principal sets of gas fields that would fuel the Hub – is to dredge and drill a combined 1,330 kilometers of ocean floor for its pipelines, and send out seismic underwater pulses every 5 seconds for months at a time – right through key whale migration routes. For Browse, Woodside plans to drill 54 wells directly under Scott Reef, Australia’s largest standalone offshore coral reef. However, the company still needs many approvals and investment decisions in order to even start planning development.

So what happens next?

The Appeals Convenor has to review the appeals and hear from experts, and an outcome could be anywhere from a few months to 2 years away. Ultimately, the decision will go to the state and federal environment ministers for final sign off.

Pressure is building at the federal level to stop allowing fossil fuel companies like Woodside to keep exploiting weak environmental laws. In just 1 week, almost 7,000 people signed on a Greenpeace Australia Pacific petition to both the federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and state Environment minister Reece Whitby to reject the extension – showcasing just how strongly opposed Australians are to extending gas into the 2070s.

And it points to a broader trend. A current Federal Court case by the Australian Conservation Foundation seeks to halt the first stage of the Burrup Hub, the Scarborough gas project, until its climate damage to the Great Barrier Reef is assessed. Scarborough is also one of 19 projects in Environment Justice Australia’s current legal intervention asking the federal minister to reconsider nearly all new coal and gas proposals currently awaiting federal approval. Eyes will be on Whitby and Plibersek to see if they respond to this opportunity to bring climate more strongly into approvals processes.

So, we have to wait and see. But if this trend continues, we can be sure new fossil fuel projects like Woodside’s Burrup Hub plans are going to be met with serious community and legal opposition. And that poses risks for looming offshore projects, like Browse, and the investors and politicians who consider supporting them.

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If you want to get updates from Greenpeace Australia Pacific on the campaign to stop Woodside, be sure to:

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