- The Albanese government backs one of the world's largest ocean carbon dumping projects.
- Inpex, Woodside and Total plan to dump international carbon waste in Australian waters.
- CCS spun as 'renewable' to expand gas drilling and seismic blasting in the NT.
- Federal funding supports turning Darwin Harbour into a carbon import terminal.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) rejects the Albanese Government's marketing of one of the world's largest carbon dumping projects as a 'low carbon' project'.
In a move that could be called greenwashing, the Albanese Government has designated the Bonaparte Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project, 250 km northwest of Darwin, as a Major Project, claiming it will "enable the development of low-carbon industries in the region". The planned expansion of Inpex Ichthys LNG/CCS is being labelled as a 'renewable energy venture'.
A joint venture between some of Australia's biggest carbon polluters – Inpex, Woodside and TotalEnergies – could subject Northern Territory residents to one of the world's largest carbon pollution dumping projects, and open the door for other countries to offload their carbon waste into Australian waters.
A carbon pollution import terminal is also planned for the $1.5 billion federally funded Middle Arm industrial precinct in Darwin Harbour, clearing the way for carbon waste to be shipped via ships from Korea and Japan dumped in Australia by 2030, thereby destroying valuable coastal mangrove habitats and threatening species in Darwin Harbour.
AMCS Fossil Fuel Campaign Manager Louise Morris said: "The Australian Government risks helping the fossil fuel industry market and greenwash its dangerous gas and carbon pollution dumping expansion in the Territory under the guise of clean energy. This doesn't pass the pub test.
"Carbon pollution dumping opens the floodgates to a massive expansion of seismic blasting and gas drilling in the north west of the country. Seismic blasting is deadly to marine life, including krill, which are killed up to 1.2 km from each blast site and disrupts whales from their migration and feeding grounds. If approved, carbon dumping would lock in seismic blasting every 2-5 years for the foreseeable future, under the guise of leak monitoring.
"Climate change is already hitting Australia's north west hard, yet the government continues to sacrifice our coasts, marine life and future for the gas industry: from Santos' Barossa pipeline and gas drilling at Scott Reef, to Inpex's proposed gas and CCS expansion and the Middle Arm petrochemical hub.
Carbon dumping through carbon capture and storage has repeatedly failed at scale worldwide, branding it as 'renewable energy' misleads Australians who want genuine climate action
"There's nothing renewable about carbon pollution dumping via CCS – it's a fossil fuel industry's attempt at gaslighting the Australian public and a means to keep expanding gas drilling and burning, while doing a public relations spin."
