Limiting Fossil Fuel Expansion
“Climate activists are sometimes called dangerous radicals, but the real dangerous radicals are those countries that continue to increase the production of fossil fuels”
This powerful statement was delivered by the UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres in April 2022 during a presentation of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report.
It came just a few months after the International Energy Agency IEA published their Net Zero by 2050 report stating that there can be no new fossil fuel projects after 2021, if countries are to have a 50 % chance to live up to the Paris Agreement. There simply isn’t enough space left in the global carbon budget to expand the current production of fossil fuels.
In our Policy & Activism programme, we fund NGOs, interest groups and think-tanks that work directly to influence decision-making, whether broadly related to climate policy or at a project-level, to halt activities that worsen the climate crisis. In line with the UN General Secretary and the IEA, we’ve decided to support an organisation that works directly to stop fossil fuel expansion.
ECNT receives first grant in Policy & Activism programme
The Environment Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT) receives the 2024-2026 Policy & Activism grant from Askehave Climate Foundation.
ECNT is the peak community sector environment organization in the Northern Territory of Australia. For the past few years, they have worked tirelessly to stop the development of the three interlinked significant new gas developments in this remote part of Australia: Santos’ offshore Barossa gas field, fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, and a gas processing and manufacturing precinct in Darwin Harbour. If these projects are approved in the next three years, a globally significant new fossil fuel processing and export hub will be created in Northern Australia, locking in up to 3 billion tonnes of carbon emissions over the next 50 years and entrenching the dependence of Australia and Asian economies on fossil fuels into the future.
The interlinked gas-projects are a collaboration between Japan, South Korea and Australia and we worry that if these countries succeed, it may lock in dangerous climate change at a time when we must rapidly reduce emissions, which would be devastating.
The remoteness of the Northern Territory from major population centres in south-eastern Australia, and its small population base, makes opposing the scale of gas expansion planned there challenging indeed. ECNT combines grassroots activism, alliance-building at regional and national scales, and skilled research, investigations and media advocacy to shift power and create the conditions for social and political change.
In accordance with principles of climate justice, it is crucial that the movement to stop fossil fuel developments is led from the places where their impacts will be most profound and direct. ECNT’s work is place-based and grounded in the places and communities of the Northern Territory. This gives the organisation a unique mandate and credibility to undertake this work.
We believe that ECNT’s work to counteract the interlinked gas-projects will make a significant impact, both locally in the NT, and globally, in the fight against fossil fuel expansion.
Statement from Executive Director, Dr Kirsty Howey:
“For those in the Northern Territory of Australia, the fight against global warming is truly existential. Northern Australia is destined to become uninhabitable due to climate change within five decades unless urgent action is taken to curb emissions. Yet paradoxically, our corner of the world is facing unprecedented expansion of the fossil fuel industry which could lock in billions of tonnes of carbon pollution. The Environment Centre NT is proud to be leading the charge to oppose these projects in collaboration with communities across the Northern Territory, and is immensely grateful for the support of the Askehave Foundation to undertake our work. Quite literally, our future depends on it.”
