Greenpeace claims win, as court dismisses Woodside case
A conservation charity has claimed victory after a court dismissed its greenwashing case against Australia’s largest energy company.
Greenpeace brought legal action against Woodside Energy in the Federal Court in 2023, claiming it misled or deceived Australians about its climate performance and plans.
The case was dismissed by the court on Wednesday with the consent of both parties, according to court documents.
Greenpeace declared the outcome a victory, saying Woodside changed the way it presented its carbon emissions plan and responded to climate change after the lawsuit was filed.
“We consider this a victory and have decided to continue the fight against fossil fuel companies outside the courts,” said Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s climate and energy officer Joe Rafalowicz.
“Greenpeace strongly supports public interest litigation as an important tool in democratic participation to protect our planet and hold big corporations accountable for their contributions to climate change.”
Woodside said he welcomed the dismissal of the case but declined to comment further.
“GAP’s lawsuit challenging certain statements made by Woodside regarding its climate strategy and emissions reduction targets has been dismissed, with the consent of each party at their own expense,” the company said in a statement.
Greenpeace’s legal lawsuit claimed Woodside had stated it would reduce pollution from the extraction and processing of gas and oil by 11 percent by 2022.
But the organization claimed that it relied heavily on carbon offsets and that its actual emissions increased by more than 3 percent.
Greenpeace said the gas giant publicly had a plan to be “net zero” by 2050 but did not state that this target did not apply to the emissions created when oil and gas are burned.
The conservation group said Woodside’s statements were designed to mislead investors, governments and the public into thinking it was reducing emissions, when in fact they were increasing them.
Santos was cleared of greenwashing charges in February after a lawsuit filed by advocacy organization Australasian Center for Corporate Responsibility failed in 2021.
He countered Santos’ claims that natural gas provides “clean energy” and that the company has a “credible and clear plan” to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
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