WA Premier Roger Cook reveals carbon emissions will grow in short term as State charts lenient net zero path

Premier Roger Cook has warned carbon emissions in WA should be expected to grow in the short term as the State’s resources sector — including the gas industry — play a vital role in helping other parts of the globe transition to net zero. In their most forthright commentary on the issue to date, both Mr Cook and Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby insisted WA had an “international obligation to supply the resources that help the rest of the world decarbonise”. “There is a huge responsibility on Western Australia’s shoulders to continue to be a jurisdiction which helps the world decarbonise,” Mr Whitby said. “Now that puts pressure on us. We identify that, we accept that. We know the road for us is different and the pathway to net zero in 2050 is different from other places.” The Cook Government has spent two years consulting on sector-specific emissions reduction strategies, which are expected to be unveiled by the end of the year. It appears increasingly likely the State’s resources operations — major drivers of the national economy — will have a more lenient road to net zero than some other sectors. “I think we all need to acknowledge that Western Australia will have a unique pathway as part of the energy transition,” Mr Cook said. “We have some high energy intensity industries but in addition to that, we have the critical minerals and the green manufacturing capacity which will help the globe reduce its overall emissions “So while you might see a growth in emissions as a result of, for instance, green steel being produced in Western Australia, the globe itself will deeply benefit from a dramatic reduction in emissions. “We are an enabler of the global shift away from carbon-intensive carbon emissions.” Pressed on whether he was suggesting WA’s carbon emissions should be expected to increase in the short term, the Premier said “that’s exactly what we’re saying”. “That WA may be in a position where we see a slight growth in our emissions, but we will see a dramatic reduction in global emissions related to that activity,” he added. WA has committed to reaching net zero by 2050 but in September the Government confirmed the first statewide target on the path to that goal would only be set for 2035. That means WA will be the only State in Australia without a 2030 target. The Albanese Government has committed to slashing national emissions to 43 per cent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. Climate activists claim achieving that target is incompatible with the approval of major new fossil fuel projects, including Woodside’s expansion of the Scarborough and Browse gas fields. Mr Whitby said gas was being used to displace the even more carbon-intensive coal in power stations around the world and that attempting to immediately halt the export of LNG would do more harm than good. “That’s something we often forget — the work we do in Western Australia has a much greater impact on global emission reductions than the emissions we might create in Western Australia,” he said. Thousands of students across Australia are preparing to take part in a national strike for climate action on Friday, with the WA event coinciding with Mr Cook hosting an energy transition summit at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. School children in Perth are planning to meet outside global energy giant Woodside’s CBD headquarters and march to PCEC, where they will protest against the approval of future gas and fossil fuel projects. Mr Whitby said he was “happy to meet students” and pleased to see “young people engaged and concerned about the environment” but that he feared there was a lack of awareness around the continued importance of gas. “People are passionate and they want action now and the suggestion sometimes is to just push the big red button and stop it all straight away,” he said. “And I understand the reasons for that desire. But it’s not credible and in fact, it will have a detrimental effect on global emissions. “Part of the story that we need to tell as a government is the contribution of Western Australia because it’s real, it’s tangible, and it’s having a real impact on reducing global emissions. “We could sit here and be very comfortable and content with ourselves with getting our emissions down, but at what cost for global emission reduction?”