West Australian EPA carbon offset plan dumped
WA’s environmental regulator has dumped a controversial plan demanding companies fully offset their carbon emissions.
Western Australia’s environmental regulator has dumped a controversial plan demanding companies fully offset their carbon emissions, although energy producers remain wary that a requirement to measure emissions used by their customers remains within the watchdog’s sights.
The Environmental Protection Authority — which makes recommendations to the WA government about whether major projects should proceed — formally launched its draft greenhouse gas emissions guidelines on Monday, following a 12-week round of public consultation that attracted 7000 submissions.
A previous measure requiring companies to demonstrate how they would “fully offset” all emissions from their developments had been changed to showing how they can “reasonably and practicably” avoid, reduce and offset emissions to help meet the state’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
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EPA chief Tom Hatton told The Australian the revised approach from its initial stance in March in part reflected a move by the state government in August to detail its own net zero emissions target.
“Back in March the plan was done in effectively a policy vacuum. Neither the state government not key industrial sectors had set any meaningful targets,” Dr Hatton said.
“We were the only state without an emissions target. That was the setting for those guidelines. Since then the state government and the resources industry have made genuine commitments that simply weren’t in place when we drafted that policy.”
Still, the EPA said Scope 3 emissions created from overseas buyers of Australia’s commodities may be requested in situations where greenhouse gas pollution was identified as an important environmental factor.
That conflicts with the NSW government, which introduced legislation in November putting an end to international greenhouse gas emissions being used as a reason to prevent its mines being approved, igniting tensions with green groups critical of the state’s attitude towards climate change.
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“For transparency and to show regard for the whole picture we may ask for those estimates of the indirect emissions,” Dr Hatton said. “However, the end conditions put upon a project will only be based on the direct emissions — the Scope 1 emissions.”
The oil and gas industry body said it was concerned by the requirement.
“The need to assess Scope 3 emissions, which are Scope 1 emissions in other countries, is likely to be challenging and is inconsistent with accepted global greenhouse gas account protocols,” the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association said.
“Requesting this information is also over and above that required by the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme.”
Major gas producers including Woodside Petroleum, Shell and Chevron had piled pressure earlier this year on Premier Mark McGowan to shelve the changes, which targeted new projects or expansions that would directly emit more than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year.
Energy producers had warned the new regulations would affect planned projects such as Woodside’s $US11bn ($16.1bn) Scarborough gas project and its $US20.5bn Browse development, as well as existing projects such as the $US34bn Wheatstone LNG plant and the $US54bn Gorgon LNG plant.
Emissions are likely to continue to grow in the state in the short to medium term, due to its giant LNG sector. Final guidelines will be released by the EPA in March, following a further eight-week feedback session with industry bodies, green groups and a state departments.