Australian conservationists have launched a legal bid to block a massive gas project saying it would harm the Great Barrier Reef by warming the planet.
The Australian Conservation Foundation on Tuesday sought an injunction to halt the work, claiming that gas giant Woodside Energy’s Scarborough project would cause 1.37 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and likely damage the World Heritage-listed reef.
The proposed Aus$16 billion ($11 billion) Scarborough project would be located off the coast of Western Australia, thousands of kilometers from the Great Barrier Reef.
But the foundation argued that the gas drilled by Scarborough would fuel climate change to such an extent – raising global temperatures by 0.0004 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) – that it would have a “significant impact” on the natural wonder.
Climate change stress has already caused four “mass bleaching events” on the Great Barrier Reef since 2016, including this year when 91 percent of its corals lost their vibrant colors.
“Scarborough’s gas is a climate bomb about to detonate,” said Kelly O’Shanassy, executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
“We can’t fall for the accounting trick that says just because the gas is mostly burned overseas, these emissions don’t affect reefs in Australia,” she said.
“The reef doesn’t care about the source of the greenhouse gases that damage it.”
The Foundation’s projections for Scarborough’s climate impact, based on research by the non-profit organization Climate Analytics, were well above Woodside’s estimate of 878 million tonnes approved by the regulator.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said the company would “vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.”
She said the project has received all primary environmental permits and is “on track”.
The lawsuit was filed as Greenpeace Australia released a report Wednesday on Woodside’s Burrup Hub, which includes the Scarborough gas project.
Greenpeace claimed a “credible” spill scenario could reach the western Australian coast and as far north as Indonesia, concluding that the Burrup project was “too risky to proceed” due to climate impacts and Woodside’s safety record.
A Woodside spokesman said the company “has a proven track record of safe and reliable operations.”
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