CLIMATE COURT CASES
UN to intervene in North West Shelf court cases
Legal challenges to Australia’s biggest gas project, the North West Shelf extension gas, are progressing – with the Federal Court confirming a July 2026 hearing date and considering an extraordinary application from a UN Special Rapporteur to intervene.
These cases have generated considerable public interest. The purpose of this update is to provide factual information and an update on the proceedings.
Overview of the legal challenges
In September 2025, Environment Minister Watt approved an extension that would allow Woodside’s gas plant to continue operating for another 45 years, processing up to 18.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas each year.
Three legal challenges to this approval are currently before the Federal Court:
- Two legal challenges brought by the Australian Conservation Foundation, represented by Environmental Justice Australia – seeking review of the Murray Watt’s decision to extend the gas project to 2070, and challenging government refusal to assess its climate risk
- A separate challenge brought by Friends of Australian Rock Art (FARA), also seeking review of Minister Watt’s approval decision.
What happened at the first case management hearing?
The Federal Court held the first case management hearing for the ACF and FARA proceedings on 14 November 2025, before the Hon Justice Button.
The Court:
- listed all three matters for a hearing in the week of July 2026
- confirmed the hearing will take place in Melbourne’s Federal Court
- received an application from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment to intervene as amicus curiae
The Special Rapporteur’s application to intervene
In a first for Australia, during the case management hearing, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Ms Astrid Puentes Riaño, sought to intervene in the proceedings as amicus curiae.
What's an amicus curiae?
An amicus curiae is a "friend to the court" who assists the court on points of law in a particular case. Amicus are generally not parties to the proceedings, do not file pleadings or lead evidence and they may not lodge an appeal. In the Federal Court, a person may only join as an amicus curiae to proceedings if the Court allows this to happen (known as giving leave).
Who is the Special Rapporteur and why has she sought to intervene as amicus curiae?
The Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is an independent human rights expert. Their role is to ensure the promotion and protection of the right for everyone to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
At the case management hearing, the Special Rapporteur’s legal representative told the Court that the Special Rapporteur had made the application to intervene in these legal challenges as amicus curiae to make submissions limited to Australia’s international law obligations with respect to the environment and their relevance to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).
If the Court decides to give leave to the Special Rapporteur to intervene in these legal challenges as an amicus curiae, this will represent the first time ever that a United Nations Special Rapporteur has sought to intervene in an Australian legal case.
About Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project
If it goes ahead, Woodside’s gas plant would be Australia’s largest, longest operating, and most polluting. By 2070, the North West Shelf Extension will generate around four billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – roughly ten times Australia’s total annual emissions.
The facility sits near Murujuga, home to the world’s oldest and largest collection of First Nations rock art, now recognised as a World Heritage site.
The project could also enable the extraction of gas from other fields, including the offshore Browse basin, near Scott Reef, and the Canning basin in the Kimberley.
What happens next?
The Court is expected to make a decision on the Special Rapporteur’s application ahead of the July 2026 hearing.
All three matters remain listed for hearing in July 2026 before Justice Button in Melbourne
