The NSW government has approved 85 per cent of proposed fossil fuel projects since the Paris Agreement, with another six projects in the pipeline which could contribute another 1.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases.
The total emissions for both approved and pending projects are likely to top 5 billion tonnes. It includes the emissions generated by extracting and shipping the coal to port – known as scope 1 and 2 emissions – and the emissions caused when the coal is burnt for power or steel-making in the countries that buy it, known as scope 3 emissions.
Under the UN’s climate treaty Australia is not held accountable for these emissions caused by fossil fuels it exports to be burnt in other nations, but Ms Schoo said Australia has a moral responsibility for the emissions nonetheless. Other issues included no clear methodology to assess the relative scale of emissions consistently, no clear guidance on how to assess potential mitigation measures and no direction on whether offsets should be required for a particular development.
Despite these concerns, the department approved the project, noting “on balance ... the project’s benefits significantly outweigh its residual costs, and that it is in the public interest and is approvable, subject to the recommended conditions”. “[The framework] should ask fossil fuel companies to apply a hierarchy in environmental assessment reports and show decision-makers that they have avoided emissions where possible, are mitigating those emissions they can’t avoid and are offsetting the rest,” she said. “This principle applies to other impacts, such as clearing of native vegetation.”