The Safeguard Mechanism helps gas companies take the piss

The government’s Safeguard Mechanism is the key policy designed, apparently, to set Australia on the path to a low-emissions economy.  According to the government’s website, the mechanism “requires Australia’s highest greenhouse gas emitting facilities to reduce their emissions in line with Australia’s emission reduction targets of 43% below 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050”.

You might then be wondering how is Woodside Energy’s massive existing North West Shelf fossil gas processing facility, which is one of the biggest emitters of CO23 in Australia, is faring under this policy. Surely the Safeguard Mechanism has caused a big change in how it operates?

Alas no. The simple answer is that under the Safeguard Mechanism,the North West Shelf Facility isn’t enacting deep, structural emissions reductions. Woodside happily knows the “Safeguard” part of the Mechanism is safeguarding Woodside and other heavy emitters from having to worry about reducing emissions.

The policy isn’t imposing any material cost on the corporation or affecting the impending approval of the extension of this site for 40 years.

Using the latest data release from the Safeguard Mechanism, here’s a fun collection of facts about the North West Shelf project, and Woodside Energy:

• Woodside met 100% of its Safeguard target for FY24 using carbon offsets
• 46% of all offsets bought by oil and gas companies for the safeguard mechanism in FY24 related purely to Woodside’s NWS project
• The North West Shelf project was the single highest surrenderer of carbon offsets for FY24, nearly double the next (Queensland alumina)
• 85% of offsets bought by Woodside for NWS’ Safeguard compliance come from highly suspicious methods (landfill gas 40%, HIR 26%, Avoided Def 18%)
• North West Shelf was the #2 purchaser of the most controversial carbon offset method for FY24 – ‘human induced regeneration‘ – a method so dodgy the government removed the method, but didn’t disallow existing offsets to be used.

Until the Safeguard Mechanism is reformed so it works as an actual climate regulation, the worst emitters under the scheme will keep using the cheap cheats, and actual emissions will keep rising.