In an Australian first, the Federal Court has accepted the application by a UN Special Rapporteur to make submissions in the Australian Conservation Foundation's legal challenges to the extension of Woodside's controversial North West Shelf gas hub.
The Australian Conservation Foundation is challenging Environment Minister Murray Watt's approval of the North West Shelf out to 2070 and his decision not to assess the harms caused by the project's climate pollution.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, Astrid Puentes Riaño, will join the case to address Australia's international legal obligations and how the international law context should be considered when interpreting the meaning of 'impact' under Australia's environment law.
In an advisory opinion released in July 2025 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) held that fossil fuel exporters like Australia cannot export their responsibility for the climate change impacts of the fossil fuels they sell.
Research by ACF shows lifetime emissions from the North West Shelf project would be almost 10 times Australia's annual emissions.
"For the first time, a United Nations Special Rapporteur has joined an Australian legal case," said ACF climate campaigner Piper Rollins.
"We understand this means international law, including the ICJ's advisory opinion on states' obligations on climate change, is relevant to the legality of the Minister's decisions about the North West Shelf extension.
"The Court will decide whether the Minister's decision to sweep climate harms under the rug was lawful."
The matter will be heard by the Federal Court in Melbourne in July.
* Amicus curiae is a legal term for 'friend of the court', where a person or group is permitted to offer information or expertise on a case to which they are not a party.
