Sustainability

Climate

Strategies and actions aimed at going beyond Carbon Neutral, by saving more greenhouse gas emissions than being generated.

Stakeholder Feedback

There was almost universal agreement among stakeholders on the importance of mitigating climate change and the threat this poses to both the Ningaloo Reef and the biodiversity it supports.

Some local stakeholders expressed concern about the risk climate change posed to the Exmouth economy, with most of the economic activity in the town linked to tourism, fishing and other industries dependent on the natural environment.

A priority action in the Shire of Exmouth’s new 2023-2033 Strategic Community Plan and Corporate Business Plan is to, “reduce carbon footprint, improve awareness and resilience, and adapt to the effects of climate change on social, community, infrastructure and environmental systems – including a Climate Action Plan”.

Current Understanding

In 2020, the International Union for Conservation of Nature identified climate change as posing, “the greatest threat to the long-term conservation of the Ningaloo Reef”.

In January 2023, Adaptus delivered a greenhouse gas emissions estimate for the project, from which all of the emissions data in this statement are drawn.

Gascoyne Gateway’s Scope 1 GHG emissions during the construction phase are estimated to be 34,200t CO2-e of which the impacts of land clearing contributed to over 58 per cent and the combustion of fuels for the use of vehicles and heavy machinery contributed 42 per cent. The use of a diesel generator onsite will be negligible. There are opportunities to reduce emissions during construction by selective clearing of land and procuring services from a construction contractor with an environmentally conscious construction method on both the terrestrial and marine side.

Scope 1 GHG emissions during the operations phase are estimated to be 4,100t CO2-e/year. The main contributors of operational emissions are the combustion of fuels for the use of vehicles and heavy machinery (65 per cent).

A range of measures have been identified to reduce Scope 1 emissions in construction and operation, including:

developing a land clearing strategy to avoid unnecessary land clearing,
rehabilitating land cleared once primary use is complete to rehabilitated unutilised land,
offsetting residual impacts of land clearing unable to be avoided or rehabilitated,
integrating environmental management plans through construction and operations to avoid unnecessary impacts on the environment through construction and development,
reviewing dredge equipment based on emissions intensity to minimise dredge effort and associated emissions,
operating an electric fleet during operations to avoid emissions during operations, and
developing a fuel use strategy to minimise the use of diesel fuels in construction and operations phases.

However, the greater impact will be to quantify and reduce Scope 3 emissions in operation.

At the current stage of the project, there is insufficient information to undertake a detailed Scope 3 emissions estimate. To demonstrate the value of the port to reduce customer and third-party emissions, a few exemplar cases have been estimated. The estimate includes a combination of the customers’ Scope 1 emissions, which would be Gascoyne Gateway’s Scope 3 emissions. The change in these emissions is Gascoyne Gateway’s Scope 4 emissions, which are the emissions avoided by using the facility compared to the current alternative.

The case studies include:

The transportation of cargo from Singapore to Karratha via Gascoyne Gateway instead of the Port of Fremantle;
Supporting Horizon Power to supply renewable energy to Exmouth*; and
Access to the port for Defence and Border Force ships that would otherwise launch from Broome (or other ports) to travel to Christmas Island.

The Scope 4 (avoided) emissions from utilising Gascoyne Gateway could account for between 76,000 – 223,800t CO2-e/year. The examples selected are not exhaustive and the broader benefit could be significantly greater than currently estimated. For example, by providing more GHG efficient and cost effective logistical solutions to the numerous battery minerals and large scale renewables to hydrogen projects planned for the Gascoyne region.

Potential Scope 4 Benefits

Scope 4 emission reduction benefits already identified could reduce Western Australia’s and Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by between 76,300 and 223,800t CO2e / year.

Target 13.1

Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.

Target 13.2

Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.

Target 13.1

Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning