After six years of waiting, Environment Minister Murray Watt approved the extension of Woodside’s North West Shelf project from 2050 to 2070 last week.
The North West Shelf development has been operational since the 1980s, and if it continues to operate, it is estimated to generate four billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over 50 years.
Traditional Owners in Murujuga, where the processing plant is located, say the extension will threaten irreplaceable 50,000-year-old rock carvings and petroglyphs.
The United Nations World Heritage Committee also flagged its concerns, referring the decision back to the Australian government to “ensure the total removal of degrading acidic emissions” and “prevent any further industrial development” near the petroglyphs.
Just days before receiving approval, Meg O’Neil, the CEO of Woodside, Australia’s largest independent dedicated oil and gas company, said:
“It’s been a fascinating journey to watch the discussion, particularly amongst young people who have this very ideological, almost zealous view of, you know, fossil fuels bad, renewables good, that are happily plugging in their devices, ordering things from Shein and Temu – having, you know, one little thing shipped to their house without any sort of recognition of the energy and carbon impact of their actions.”
None of this is about ideology.
Young people like myself recognise the energy and carbon impact of our actions and those of corporations.
To match Woodside’s current emissions, it would take every single young Australian purchasing 4,888 t-shirts from Temu each year, according to Market Forces.
To reach Woodside’s maximum emissions estimates for the North West Shelf Extension, each young Australian would need to order 214,571 t-shirts.
A 2017 report indicates that around 70% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide come from just 100 companies.
Since 1988, just 100 companies have been responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions and only 25 corporations and state-owned organisations were found to be responsible for over 50% of the global industrial emissions during the same period.
This is not the first time young people or individuals in general have been blamed for their carbon footprint.
In fact, the carbon footprint was created by an advertising firm working for British Petroleum, the second largest non-state owned oil company in the world, with 18,700 gas and service stations worldwide.
As someone who has organised climate strikes, worked in the climate movement and made lifestyle choices due to environmental concerns, I am not saying individuals who have the means to make changes have no responsibility at all.
A 2023 K report using data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)study actually found over 70% of people said they had made some changes to their lifestyle to help tackle environmental issues.
But what I am tired of is multi-billion dollar corporations telling us that we should shop less or buy this or walk more or eat this when they continue to pollute and destroy the planet.
The truth is that the power to solve the climate crisis primarily lies in the hands of governments and corporations that make the core decisions focusing on sustainability and Indigenous land rights.
The approval of this Woodside gas project by the Labor government is just one example that shows us that neither of those were priority.
Top photo: Varsha Yajman (pictured), Missing Perspectives (source)
