Legal update
New legal challenge over North West Shelf gas project
The Australian Conservation Foundation, represented by Environmental Justice Australia, has filed a second legal challenge against Environment Minister’s refusal to act on climate harm of North West Shelf.
In early October 2025, Environmental Justice Australia lawyers filed a Federal Court case for the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), challenging Murray Watt's approval of Australia’s largest, longest operating and most polluting gas project, arguing the Minister failed to properly assess the climate impacts of the project, particularly Scope 3 emissions, and the broader consequences for ecosystems like the Murujuga rock art landscape. Read more about this case and the legal grounds.
In late October, EJA lawyers filed an additional Federal Court challenge for ACF, arguing the Environment Minister failed to consider the devastating climate impacts of Woodside’s plan to extend its North West Shelf gas project running to 2070.
Specifically, ACF will argue the Minister was not legally permitted to exclude the climate damage caused by the project when deciding whether and how to assess it under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
This is the second major case ACF has filed against the Minister this month. The new case targets a decision made by Minister Watt in May this year to affirm former Environment Minister Sussan Ley’s assessment that the 4 billion tonnes of climate pollution Woodside’s gas expansion would generate did not need to be assessed under Australia’s national environment law.
“Minister Watt had clear scientific evidence and a chance to make a better decision than the previous Coalition government, but he backed in Sussan Ley’s flawed call and ignored the climate consequences of Woodside’s massive gas expansion.”“This gas project will generate nearly four billion tonnes of emissions. That's almost ten times Australia’s annual domestic pollution. Yet our Environment Minister has decided that’s just a drop in the ocean. We vehemently disagree.”
— ACF General Counsel, Adam Beeson.
If successful, the case could set an important precedent, ensuring that the climate impacts of coal and gas projects can no longer be ignored when governments assess damage to Australia’s World Heritage reefs, wetlands, and threatened species.
