An expected call on the future of a major Australian gas project could cast a shadow over the final days of a climate change-heavy Pacific leader talks.
The final go-ahead for the Woodside North West Shelf gas hub to continue operating until 2070 could be granted by federal Environment Minister Murray Watt as soon as Friday, following years in approvals limbo.
Australia’s fossil fuel exports have long been a source of tension for climate-vulnerable Pacific islands on the front line of rising seas and severe weather, a point reiterated by Vanuatu climate change adaptation minister Ralph Regenvanu in Honiara on Wednesday.
The high-profile climate minister said Australia’s long-held argument that it was only responsible for cutting the greenhouse gases it emitted within its borders “is no longer tenable” following a landmark World Court advisory opinion in July.
“We want Australia to start seriously talking about its fossil fuel production pipeline,” Mr Regenvanu said at a Pacific Island Forum side event on Wednesday.
The non-binding advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, spearheaded by Vanuatu, specifies fossil fuel production could count towards the host country and constitute an “internationally wrongful act”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would “act in Australia’s interests but also in the interests of engaging in action on climate change” when queried on the Pacific reaction to the looming North West Shelf decision.
“We know that gas has an important role to play in the transition,” he told reporters from the leaders-only retreat in the Solomon Islands on Thursday.
“We’ll continue to make decisions based upon our domestic law and the environment minister will be making a decision in the coming period.”
Murujuga traditional custodian Raelene Cooper, who has been fighting industrial activity in the region over fears it is damaging Indigenous rock art at the Western Australian site, said she had received three days’ notice from the environment minister regarding a final decision, suggesting it was likely imminent.
Ms Cooper said she was devastated her Country was being used by Woodside and the Albanese government to destroy other countries.
“We are all asking the same question across Australia and the Pacific – what is this government doing?”
Environmental groups have been campaigning fiercely against the expansion of the Woodside plant, with Australian Conservation Foundation labelling the Burrup Hub plans a “climate bomb”.
Mr Albanese denied he was under pressure to phase out fossil fuel exports during the regional leaders summit and confirmed Australia’s bid to co-host the next United Nations climate talks with Pacific islands had broad support.
Despite time ticking to lock in a location for the major diplomatic event in late 2026, both Turkey and the Australia-Pacific bids are still live, with no clear path to resolution.
Mr Albanese committed $100 million in foundational funding for the new Pacific Resilience Facility, officially signed and ratified by leaders on Thursday.
Ten years in the making, the fund is designed to make it easier for communities to access money for smaller-scale projects to bolster their resilience to coastal erosion and other climate impacts.
“The decisions now to establish, formally, the Pacific Resilience Facility in order to advance the need to mitigate and deal with the challenge of climate change by building infrastructure and the shift to renewable energy will make an enormous difference,” Mr Albanese said.
The prime minister spent Thursday in Munda, an idyllic tropical location in the Solomon Islands picked for the leaders-only retreat.
The Pacific heads are set to produce a communique outlining their formal commitments and priorities following the Solomons-hosted event.