The atmosphere doesn’t do accounting tricks

As negotiators head to Türkiye this week for the latest Climate COP, I’ll be MCing Nature: The Call for Reconciliation at the National Library and leading Canberra's Dogs for Climate Walk around Lake Burley Griffin. Both events are part of Citizen COP: people coming together to care for the living world and to demand a safer future.

In Türkiye, the Albanese government wants recognition for its climate credentials. But let's be frank, Australia's fossil fuel record deserves serious scrutiny. Atmospheric physics doesn’t care about spin. Climate safety doesn’t depend on whose spreadsheet the emissions appear in.

The burning of Australia’s exported coal and gas produced almost 1.2 billion tonnes of emissions last year, compared with 681 million tonnes two decades ago. And while that 76% increase can't all be attributed to Anthony Albanese, his government is responsible for its decisions since May 2022. The Climate Council has tracked 16 coal mine approvals or expansions and 11 gas approvals since then.

On 19 December 2024, the government approved the Caval Ridge, Boggabri and Lake Vermont coal projects. The Australia Institute estimates that together they will produce 936 million tonnes of emissions over their project lives. That's future pollution, not emissions already released, in the face of catastrophic climate change. It's actively and knowingly contributing to the damage ahead.

And in September 2026, the government approved Saraji’s Grevillea Pit expansion while the Prime Minister was meeting Pacific leaders in Palau. The Climate Council estimates that will release an additional 120 million tonnes of pollution when burnt.

Imagine asking your neighbours to trust your climate leadership while authorising more pollution that threatens their homes.

Then there's the gas. And that's massive. The North West Shelf extension received federal environmental approval in September 2025, allowing its massive operations to extend out to 2070. And this year, the Albanese government has already approved up to 1,695 new Queensland gas wells which will operate until 2081. That's thirty-one years beyond Australia's 2050 net-zero target.

This is an indictment which needs no exaggeration: Australia continues exporting enormous quantities of fossil fuels and authorising extraction for decades.

The Albanese government explains it through international accounting rules that generally count combustion emissions where fuels are burnt. Theoretically, that prevents double counting. But it doesn't absolve countries like Australia that are pursuing fossil fuel expansionism. Australia is claiming the economic benefits and disclaiming responsibility for the foreseeable consequences. Doing so is that I call planned ignoring: celebrating and benefiting from fossil fuel exports while narrowing responsibility to emissions inside our borders. As if the atmosphere will somehow ignore those emissions!

When approving the North West Shelf extension, Minister Murray Watt said the project must reach net-zero emissions by 2050 under the Safeguard Mechanism. But managing a processing facility’s emissions doesn't neutralise all of the pollution from the burning of its exports. A cleaner terminal doesn't make its cargo climate-safe.

Australia needs a hard and swift end to new and expanded coal and gas approvals, a credible production phase-down, and properly funded support for workers and regional communities. Our exported emissions should be reported alongside our domestic inventory.

Climate safety can't be reduced to a reporting boundary.

That's why Citizen COP matters. Enabled by People for Nature, it brings people together through screenings, workshops, walks, art and conversations across Australia. In Canberra, you can join me for Nature: The Call for Reconciliation and the Dogs for Climate Walk on Saturday 14 November. And wherever you live, you can explore the full Citizen COP programme, including online events.

Bring a friend. Build community. Help strengthen the public demand for a safer future.

The atmosphere doesn’t do accounting tricks. Neither should Australia.