{"id":42211,"date":"2020-07-08T00:01:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T14:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketforces.org.au\/?p=42211"},"modified":"2021-09-14T15:06:18","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T05:06:18","slug":"pariahprojects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketforces.org.au\/pariahprojects\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s pariah projects: the fossil fuel proposals threatening to bust our climate goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Australia\u2019s \u2018big four\u2019 banks \u2013 ANZ, CommBank, NAB and Westpac \u2013 have all publicly championed the Paris Agreement. They have also committed to the global goal of net zero emissions by 2050, even though the current state of climate science means we should be aiming for net-zero emissions far sooner. But their actions are failing to satisfy either of these commitments, as they continue pouring billions of dollars<\/a> into projects and companies expanding the scale of the fossil fuel industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has given us the best insight<\/a> yet of the rapid energy transition required to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, a goal supported by Australia\u2019s major banks. The conclusion is clear: there is no room for new or expanded coal, oil and gas projects.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet there are plenty of dirty projects for the banks to choose from. According to data<\/a> from the Office of the Chief Economist, companies are pursuing at least 116 new or expansionary fossil fuel projects in Australia that would cost at least $200 billion. These include coal mines, coal ports, gas fields, gas pipelines, LNG terminals and oil fields. Meanwhile, according to data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)<\/a>, as of July 2021 there was at least 115 MW of upgraded or proposed coal-fired power on the horizon, along with 3.4 GW of gas-fired generation, across 23 projects. This brings the total number of proposed projects to 139.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The greenhouse gas footprint of these projects would be enormous. Just four of the projects listed by the Office of the Chief Economist would enable the release of 9.8 billion tonnes of CO<\/strong>2<\/strong>-e, enough to cancel out any gains made under Australia\u2019s emissions reduction target (2021-2030) 109 times over.<\/strong> (These projects include Woodside\u2019s Burrup Hub [Pluto expansion, Scarborough, Browse to North West Shelf] and Clive Palmer\u2019s Galilee Coal and Rail Project.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the projects we need to leave behind if we\u2019re to bring emissions to zero by 2050, let alone limit warming to 1.5\u00b0C. The good news is you can help stop them by taking action as a customer, shareholder or citizen, telling the banks to reign in their splurging on climate-wrecking expansions of coal, oil and gas.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n