Tiwi islanders challenge Korea’s Barossa gas project
Recent court decision accelerates efforts for LNG production to begin in 2025
The Tiwi Islands in Australia have been a sanctuary for indigenous peoples as well as possessing diverse marine ecosystems for over 18,000 years. In particular, their coastal areas are an internationally significant nesting site for marine turtles.
In May 2021, however, the islanders were alarmed by news of planned offshore drilling in the nearby Timor Sea, as part of the Barossa gas project.
Owned by Australia’s Santos (50 percent), Korea’s SK E&S (37.5 percent) and Japan’s JERA (12.5 percent), the project aims to transport extracted natural gas via submarine pipelines, which extend 300 kilometers to the Darwin liquefaction plant for the production of LNG.
This announcement galvanized the islanders into becoming activists, driven by fears that the project would devastate their way of life, which is in harmony with Mother Nature. Even though the project has been discussed for 20 years, the Tiwi Islanders say they were left out of the discussions.
Last week, they flew thousands of kilometers to personally speak with the project’s investors in Asia. On Tuesday, they hosted a press conference at the National Assembly in Korea with Rep. Jang Hye-young from the minor opposition Justice Party.
“Imagine if the Tiwi people came to Korea and started drilling the sacred spiritual Mount Baekdu for gas and laid a pipeline right through the Gyeongbok Palace. That’s exactly what it feels like for us,” Therese Bourke, the leader of the Malawu clan of the Tiwi Islands, said at the Assembly.
She urged Korean public financial institutions to stop financing the project.
Bourke and the islanders sought a meeting with Korean investors on their visit. Despite their efforts, no one agreed to talk to them. They say the refusal was particularly “disheartening,” considering their prior meetings with officials from the Japanese Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and the major banks involved in the project before arriving in Korea.
“Eximbank (Export-Import Bank of Korea) has committed to the United Nations Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights. We ask Eximbank to comply with Free, Prior, & Informed Consent, which is included in their human rights policy,” Bourke added.
Their greatest worry is the potential damage that the pipeline could inflict on this marine environment. The increased number of operating vessels will likely deteriorate the habitat formation of marine animals. Moreover, the marine ecosystem could be immensely polluted if crude oil leaks during drilling. Islanders believe such risks are high, given the recent unusual phenomena caused by the climate crisis.
“I’ve lived on the island my entire life. The water is coming up to the land, and trees are going under. This climate change has led to stronger rains, storms and could even cause tsunamis. Anything can happen with the pipeline,” Pirrawayingi Puruntatameri, an elder of the Munupi clan and the former mayor of Tiwi Island, told The Korea Times.
Environmental activists also refuted SK E&S’ statements that the LNG produced would be “eco-friendly.” An analysis by ERM, an environmental consultancy firm, anticipates that the project will result in annual greenhouse gas emissions of 13.5 million tons, factoring in its production, transportation and consumption phases.
“The carbon capture and storage (CCS) measures proposed by SK E&S are projected to reduce only 16 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions generated by this project,” Solutions for Our Climate said.
Different story
Conversely, Korean business insiders are optimistic about the potential of this project. They consider this project as a pivotal opportunity to enhance Korea’s self-sufficiency rates in LNG, which currently stands at a mere 5 percent.
LNG is favored over other fossil fuels like coal and oil thanks to its comparatively lower carbon emissions. This has led to its extensive use in Korea, as the country aims to increase the share of LNG in its energy portfolio in order to offset the intermittent nature of renewable energies during the decarbonization process.
The Barossa project is expected to deliver 1.3 million tons of LNG annually to Korea from Australia, double the amount that SK E&S has imported from the Tangguh project in Indonesia since 2006.
Moreover, SK E&S has ambitious plans to utilize LNG from the Barossa project to produce 250,000 tons of blue hydrogen annually at its facilities in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province. Theoretically, blue hydrogen is environmentally advantageous as it is produced by capturing and storing the carbon emissions from natural gas, such as LNG.
The firm anticipates that an investment of 6.7 trillion won ($5 billion) in developing a blue hydrogen ecosystem will not only create 105,000 jobs but also generate 59 trillion won in socio-economic benefits.
However, opinions on whether this initiative will significantly reduce carbon emissions are again deeply divided between the firm and climate activists.
“After coal, Boryeong residents are now faced with LNG. The decision-making process, controlled by central government authorities, leaves local residents to deal with
the consequences, including the potential health impacts,” Cho Soonhyung, an activist from the Korean Federation for Environmental Movements
in Chungnam, said.
After years of legal battles, a court decision in January favored the project’s proponents, granting them permission to resume activities.
An industry insider closely acquainted with the matter interpreted the legal victory as an indication that “all environmental and legal risks posed by the islanders and climate activists have been addressed following the court’s decision.” According to this source, the ruling paves the way for full-scale LNG production to commence in 2025 as initially planned.
Eximbank has opted not to comment on the issue.
Tiwi Islanders have vowed to continue their opposition.
“If we had known about this project 22 years ago, we would have done something about it then. But now we are already at the end where the drill pieces are already operational. We are sorry that it’s causing a big fuss for Korean energy. But it doesn’t fix the core problem,” Antonia Burke, a human rights advocate who grew up on the Tiwi Islands, said.
“Tiwi is completely pristine and untouched. There’s no industrialization around us, still natural. We have [the] resources to transition to renewable energy right now in Australia. So for that transition, indigenous people in Australia are more than happy to work with Koreans,” she added, asking for the Korean public’s attention.