A new scientific report that finds the burning of gas from Woodside’s proposed Browse offshore gas field would result in the death of an additional 29.35 million individual coral colonies in every mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef should prompt environment minister Murray Watt to reconsider the scope of his assessment of the project.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has written to the Minister with a ‘reconsideration request’ based on substantial new information in the scientific report.
Using peer-reviewed methodology that allows for ‘end-to-end’ project-specific attribution, Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a coordinating lead author of the IPCC’s 7th assessment report on the physical scientific basis for climate change, has assessed the consequences for the Great Barrier Reef from the 1.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution that would be produced from Woodside’s proposed gas project.
Professor Perkins-Kirkpatrick finds the burning of gas from the Browse project alone will result in the death of approximately 29.35 million individual coral colonies in every mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.
At present, federal assessment of the Browse project is limited to local impacts, including the threat to endangered pygmy blue whales and dusky sea snakes at nearby Scott Reef.
Section 78A of Australia’s national nature law allows members of the public to present new evidence and ask the Minister to review the scope of a project’s assessment.
The Minister is legally required to consider this request. If it is deemed valid, he will be compelled to consider this new evidence.
“This scientific report presents substantial new information about the damage that will be caused if Woodside exploits the Browse gas,” said ACF CEO Adam Bandt.
“This new information could be a gamechanger.
“We believe Minister Watt should widen his assessment of Woodside’s Browse proposal to take account of the project’s impact on the Great Barrier Reef – a World Heritage site and ‘matter of national environmental significance.’
“Exported coal and gas comes back to Australia as heatwaves, bushfires, floods and coral bleaching. There is no excuse for new or expanded coal or gas projects.”
There have been six mass bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef in the last ten years, including in 2024 and 2025.
The IPCC predicts ocean warming, marine heatwaves and coral bleaching to continue to worsen.
Woodside plans to pipe the gas from Browse to the controversial North West Shelf gas hub for processing.
Contact Josh (details below) for copies of the reconsideration request and the scientific report
Contact details:
Josh Meadows, josh.meadows@acf.org.au, 0439 342 992
