June 4, 2024
Joint Statement:
NGOs strongly condemn decision by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) tofinance Woodside Energy, the Australian gas extraction giant− Over USD 28 billion has been financed for fossil fuel projects since the G7 Elmau
Commitment −Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES)
Friends of the Earth Japan
Mekong Watch
Kiko Network
Market Forces
Oil Change International
Solutions for Climate Australia
On May 30, 2024, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), a public financial
institution fully owned by the Government of Japan, announced that they made a decision tofinance a subsidiary of Woodside Energy Group Ltd (Woodside), one of the major gas extraction
companies in Australia. This finance will support the Scarborough gas field development project,which is under development in the offshore area of the northwest coast of the Pilbara region inWestern Australia (*1). Following this announcement, we, environmental NGOs, stronglycondemn the decision by JBIC to support Woodside and urge to cancel the decision for thefollowing reasons:
1. JBIC's financing is not aligned with the 1.5 degree goals of the Paris Agreement, and inaddition, undermines sound private-sector corporate governance by financing
Woodside’s gas expansion strategy, which the majority of Woodside’s shareholders
rejected.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its report in 2023 titled "Net Zero Roadmap: A Global
Pathway to Keep the 1.5 °C Goal in Reach" (*2), reiterated its conclusion in its previous 2021
report that in order to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, there is no room fornew coal, oil or natural gas projects. Therefore the currently planned Scarborough gas fielddevelopment project is not aligned with the 1.5 degree goals of the Paris Agreement. At
Woodside's Annual General Meeting on April 24, 2024, 58% of shareholders voted against thecompany's climate transition plan, deeming it insufficient (*3). A large pension fund criticised thecompany's strategy, particularly developing new gas field is not aligning with the ParisAgreement (*4). Accordingly, JBIC's financing decision which enables Woodside's gas
expansion strategy that majority of shareholders have rejected therefore undermines soundcorporate governance and shareholder’s participation.
2. JBIC's financing violates the commitments made in the G7 Elmau Commitment.

1

In the G7 Elmau Communique, to which the Japanese government has committed, it is stated to“commit to end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector
by the end of 2022, except in limited circumstances clearly defined by each country consistent
with a 1.5°C warming limit and the goals of the Paris Agreement." (*5). Therefore, in applying
the exception clause to the project, the energy policy of the recipient country, Australia, must beconsistent with the 1.5 degree goals of the Paris Agreement. However, Climate Action Tracker,
which analyses climate policies in various countries, reveals that Australia’s policies are notaligned with the 1.5 degree goals (*6). Therefore, the support by JBIC for this project would
violate the G7 Elmau commitment.
On March 26, 2024, JBIC also signed a financing agreement with JERA, one of Japan's major
electric power companies, for the Scarborough gas field development project. Including thisfinancing for Woodside, JBIC has made financing decisions for six fossil fuel projects since2023, with the total amount exceeding USD 28 billion.
3: The "Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC)" of affected Indigenous Peoples has notbeen secured, thus this financing violates JBIC’s Guidelines.
Regarding the Scarborough gas field development project, FPIC with the affected Indigenouspeoples has not been secured. Ms. Raelene Cooper, one of the Traditional Custodians in thePilbara region, argued that the permission granted by the National Offshore Petroleum Safetyand Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) for the marine seismic survey wasillegal, and Cooper filed a lawsuit against NOPSEMA and Woodside to the Federal Court ofAustralia on August 17, 2023 (*7). On September 28, 2023, Cooper won the lawsuit, leading to
the withdrawal of the permission for the marine seismic survey (*8). However, Woodsideresubmitted the Environmental Plan (EP) for the marine seismic survey to NOPSEMA onOctober 19, 2023 (*9), and it was approved by NOPSEMA on December 1, 2023 (*10).
However, Cooper pointed out that between the court ruling on September 28, 2023, and theresubmission on October 19, 2023, the company had held only one meeting with her, indicatingthat adequate consultation had not been conducted (*11). Additionally, “Burrup and Maitland
Industrial Estates Agreement” signed in 2003 among the State of Western Australia, theWestern Australian Land Authority and Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) which is a groupof indigenous people in the Pilbara region, forbids MAC to “lodge or cause to be lodged any
objection to development proposals intended to occur on land within the Industrial Estate” (*12).
Thus, the affected group of indigenous peoples cannot give or withhold FPIC to theScarborough gas field development project. Securing FPIC is mentioned as a requirement in
JBIC's “Guidelines for Confirmation of Environmental and Social Considerations”. The decisions
to support this project would thus violate the Guidelines.
Therefore, we urge JBIC to cancel the decision to provide financing for Woodside.
Contact:
Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES)

2

Yuki Tanabe
tanabe@jacses.org
Ayako Honkawa
honkawa@jacses.org
Note:*1： https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2024/press_00023.html*2：
https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-roadmap-a-global-pathway-to-keep-the-15-0c-goal-in-reach*3：
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/woodside-activist-investors-prepare-hotlycontested-climate-battle-agm-2024-04-23/*4：https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/apr/22/major-investors-leading-push-againstwoodsides-climate-plans-ahead-of-agm*5： https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/100364051.pdf*6：https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/*7：
https://www.edo.org.au/2023/09/14/im-elated-traditional-custodian-granted-injunction-against-w
oodsides-seismic-testing/*8：https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1158*9：
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-09/woodside-renews-application-seismic-testing-pilbara/103084128*10：https://info.nopsema.gov.au/activities/461/show_public*11：
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-09/woodside-renews-application-seismic-testing-pilbara/103084128*12：
https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2019-06/Burrup%20and%20Maitland%20Industrial%20Estat
es%20Agreement.pdf

3