WA in the front line of climate and environmental impacts
Extinction Rebellion Australia, 16 July 2024
XRWA Red Rebels commemorated mass turtle deaths at wetlands around Bibra Lake last month, the tragic result of cat and fox predation. Climate disruption, land clearing and (to a lesser degree) introduced plants and animals are the agents of the radical changes that are tearing through Australia's environment. But XRWA says —We can win this fight for our lives and beautiful nature if we act together.
An XRWA spokesperson said "The Red Rebels silent actions are a powerful tool of mourning. WA is in the front line of climate impacts, and the biodiversity hotspot in the Southwest is vulnerable to everything that's happening with the climate.” —photo by Nancye Miles-Tweedie
Western Australia is on track for record-high greenhouse gas emissions this year and will not reach net zero by 2050 if business as usual continues, according to a secret government-commissioned report never made public. The state's greenhouse gas emissions are rising, putting Australia’s net zero targets in doubt.
XRWA says – The government and gas industry are trying to steal our futures. Let's stop that theft. Anyone in the Perth vicinity is warmly invited to the XRWA events coming up.
During the first half of 2024, WA Rebels joined activists from other climate focussed groups and in April were a conspicuous presence outside Woodside’s AGM at Perth’s Crown Casino.
About 200 activists gathered outside the venue, holding placards with anti-Woodside messaging. Chants included “Shame on Woodside, when you gonna learn, you can’t make money on a planet that burns” and “Six months no rain, Woodside are to blame.”
The AGM was briefly suspended to remove protesters who crashed the meeting and moved to the front, singing Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House as chairman Richard Goyder took questions from shareholders.
Woodside’s Burrup Hub project on WA’s Burrup Peninsula is part of the company’s $16.5 billion plan to develop the Scarborough gas field 375 kilometres off the Pilbara coast of WA.
Woodside estimates the project will release 878 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, while at the same time the International Energy Agency is warning that no new coal mines or oil and gas wells can be developed if we are to reach the world's climate goals.
Woodside explains its approach by claiming gas is a "transition fuel". But as the Australia Institute says, in 3 Gas Myths Debunked:
While this may have been an argument 30 years ago, global warming is already at 1.1˚C, and we no longer have the luxury of making a leisurely transition, via fossil gas, to renewable energy.
Shareholders at the four-hour AGM voted to re-elect chairman Richard Goyder by a comfortable margin, but rejected Woodside’s climate transition plan. The vote on the climate transition plan was purely advisory, but signals a growing intolerance for the impact that emissions are having on climate destabilisation. Will van de Pol, CEO of climate activist group Market Forces, which had been pushing for the rejection, told the ABC that it was a "new world record" for a vote against a company's climate plans.
Mr van de Pol said that big investors who voted against the climate plan while still backing Mr Goyder were on the wrong side of the line, valuing stability and returns over action, which he said amounted to greenwashing.
WA Rebels joined activists from many climate organisations in May as part of the recently activated and dynamic Voices For Climate. Together, they staged disruptive performances at the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) conference held at Perth's Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill Meg O'Neill called for a re-set of the energy and climate conversation based on truth and science. XRWA couldn't agree more. But we know who's telling the truth about the science. Let's start with these facts:
- The world's scientists and the IPCC have told us there is no liveable future with new fossil fuels including gas.
- A CSIRO report commissioned and quashed by Woodside that said exporting gas to Asia will hamper development of renewables there.
- WA's emissions keep soaring due to gas, while we reel from the impacts of a world already 1.5° hotter than pre-industrial temperatures and every climate-related record is broken and set to worsen.
In May, XR WA rebels took part in protests against the federal government’s appalling Future Gas Strategy launch at Federal Minister for Resources Madeleine King’s electorate office in Rockingham.
The XRWA Red Rebels recent silent vigil at the wetlands in the Perth suburb of Bibra Lake and photographic testament by Nancye Miles-Tweedie is reminder of the biodiversity that's been lost, and the need for action to protect some of the most unique and fragile lifeforms on earth.
The wetlands span over 384 hectares in the dunes of the Swan Coastal Plain, in a conservation reserve created around two parallel chains of wetlands along the Swan Coastal Plain. Over 90% of Perth’s once ample and abundant wetlands have been lost to agricultural pursuits, urbanisation, development and infill.
The first half of 2024 has also been a time of consolidation and renewal for XRWA, prioritising regeneration through revived and more regular newsletters and events.
Rebels have held regular ‘Rebels Off the Streets’ Friday night socials and meetings of the Boorloo local group. A screening of Tim Flannery’s Climate Changers doco generated rich conversations about the way forward. Inductions are always essential for XRWA's work and the most recent of these was followed by that most agreeable and therapeutic activity - banner painting.