Greenpeace takes Woodside to court alleging greenwashing
Greenpeace is alleging Woodside Energy has made misleading and deceptive claims about its efforts to reduce emissions, asking the Federal Court to decide whether the oil and gas producer is greenwashing.
The environmental activists allege Woodside misrepresented reductions in emissions from extracting and processing oil and gas last year because it relied on carbon offsets.
Greenpeace activists staged a protest earlier this month at Woodside’s Perth headquarters. Holly Thompson
They also claim Woodside’s plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 overlooks emission produced when its products are burnt.
A Woodside spokeswoman confirmed the company has been served with the court action and will defend it.
“Woodside believes that Greenpeace’s claims are without merit and intends to vigorously defend the action,” she said. “Woodside invests significant time and effort into preparing its public reports, having regard to both its legal obligations and its desire to inform investors and other stakeholders.”
Santos, with which Woodside is in early talks on a potential $80 billion merger, is fighting a similar case brought by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility. The ACCR has alleged the company breached corporations and consumer laws by making misleading claims on “clean energy” and its plan to reach net-zero emissions.
Both companies face a barrage of legal challenges around approvals and indigenous consultation for new gas projects, involving Woodside’s $16.5 billion Scarborough project in Western Australia and Santos’ $5.8 billion Barossa venture in the Timor Sea.
The Environmental Defenders Office is representing the claimants in those cases, and in the Greenpeace case against Woodside.
Regulators have been cracking down on greenwashing, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission pursuing companies they allege have misled consumers and investors.
Greenpeace said if its case against Woodside was successful, it would improve the transparency of climate disclosures and force fossil fuel producers to be up-front about the scope and impact of their businesses and not try to “bury the truth in the fine print”.
The action follows the landmark agreement reached at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai on Wednesday that for the first time calls for concerted global action to “transition away” from fossil fuels.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive David Ritter said Woodside was treating the public and shareholders “like mugs” in making claims about emissions reductions.
“We’re now asking the Federal Court to rule that Woodside’s claims are misleading,” he said in a statement. “These should be corrected, and the fossil fuel giant should be prevented from making these claims.”
Greenpeace said Woodside represented that it had cut climate pollution from its oil and gas operations by 11 per cent in 2022, but its actual emissions rose by more than 3 per cent, and it relied on carbon offsets for the claimed reductions.
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