WA’s new climate wrecking power couple: Alcoa and Woodside team up in new deal

The fanfare from Woodside about supplying gas to Alcoa is a cynical move amid increasing and popular pressure for a federal gas reservation policy and increasing opposition to the North West Shelf facility and Browse gas export proposal.

Conservation Council of WA Executive Director Matt Roberts said the partnership between Australia’s largest fossil fuel polluter and one of WA’s biggest gas users, “smacked of desperation by Woodside and a failure to act on climate commitments by Alcoa”. 

“Alcoa’s Wagerup and Pinjarra refineries, fueled by fossil gas, are among the top 10 most polluting operations in WA,” Mr Roberts said.

“These refineries alone released 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2024-2025. Locking in more gas for longer should not be celebrated – it’s a move by Woodside to prop-up an industry rightly in decline and a total capitulation by Alcoa to work towards decarbonisation and meeting emissions reduction targets.

“Households across WA are doing the heavy lifting of putting solar on roofs investing in batteries, while government is missing in action by pushing the false narrative that gas is the poster child for the renewable energy transition we desperately need.

“Companies like Woodside and Alcoa are just taking the piss at this point. Here we have some of the richest companies in the world locking in gas for generations to come, with no commitments to decarbonise or phase out fossil fuel use.

“In fact, in light of the ongoing calls for a meaningful tax on the gas industry, and a call for a federal gas reservation policy that demonstrates just how inadequately WA’s own domestic gas reservation policy is being enforced, this seems like a cynical exercise from Woodside and an attempt to try and remain relevant.”

“The lack of a WA Climate Bill or any interim emissions reduction targets means that companies like Alcoa and Woodside are making investment decisions now that lock in fossil gas and emissions for longer.

“Yesterday’s announcements show what happens when the WA government fails to lead on climate action and a clean energy transition.”

WA Forest Alliance Director Jess Boyce said, “Alcoa is accelerating climate change at an unprecedented pace by using more gas than anyone else, and bulldozing forests that are critical carbon sinks”.

“This comes at the same time it keeps telling us that it’s ‘here for the future’, unlike our forests,” Ms Boyce said.

“The Northern Jarrah Forest is recognised internationally as at risk of collapse if clearing is not halted and emissions drastically reduced as temperatures rise and rainfall decreases.

“While Alcoa seeks to expand its operations by 11,000 ha, Woodside seeks approval for its biggest and dirtiest project yet: Browse.

“Without Alcoa’s massive gas usage, there would be more gas for Western Australians, meaning lower energy prices for all, and less need to extend the life of fossil fuel projects like the North West Shelf.”

The Wilderness Society WA Campaigns Manager Alyx Douglas said, “what most Western Australians want is for this government to take decisive action on forest destruction, extractive industries and climate change, not submit to the demands of big corporations”.

“Fracking the Kimberley, approving Browse, and expanding Alcoa’s operations are not competing priorities; they are compounding climate disasters. Roger Cook cannot play these campaigns off against each other and call it leadership,” Ms Douglas said.

“These projects are all in direct breach of Australia’s commitments on climate change and undermine international climate goals in the Paris Agreement; WA remains the only state going backwards on emissions reduction without a legislated emissions reduction target.

* According to data released under the Safeguard Mechanism, emissions from Alcoa’s Wagerup and Pinjarra refineries was 2.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas in 2024-2025.

Media contact: John Cooke – 0433 679 780