Submission to: 2021 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release: nominated areas for comment

05.03.21 By
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The Climate Council welcomes the opportunity to comment on the 2021 offshore petroleum acreage release. The Climate Council is concerned that the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (hereby referred to as the Department) is pushing ahead with plans to open up 84,349km2 of new area for gas exploration in offshore Western Australia and Bass Strait – an area greater than the size of Tasmania and the ACT combined – without considering how much this gas could contribute to climate change by increasing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and without identifying any need for new gas.

This submission will outline:

Recommendations

  1. Suspend the 2021 offshore gas acreage release and suspend the process to grant new titles for the 2020 acreage release.
  2. Introduce a framework to enable impacts of climate change to be considered when assessing future offshore title applications.
  3. Fund an independent scientific study, free of industry influence, of gas industry supply chain emissions.

Click here to read the full submission

The cover page of the submission to 2021 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release: nominated areas for comment.