The Business Council of Australia: Big Gas’ Secret Weapon

Most people probably have never heard of the Business Council of Australia (BCA). But you’ll definitely know its members: companies like Telstra, Bupa, Woolworths, Rio Tinto, Commonwealth Bank, Meta, Monash University — and of course, gas giant Woodside.

The BCA is one of the country’s most powerful business lobby groups. It represents over 130 of Australia’s biggest companies — and it has become a key player in keeping Australia hooked on dirty fossil fuels.

How does the BCA enable Big Gas?

The BCA calls itself the voice of big business and its members boast about being ‘climate leaders’. In reality, the BCA has become the voice for Big Gas.

There is scientific consensus that there is no pathway to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees which involves new gas extraction projects, and some existing projects will need to leave gas in the ground.  In fact demand for gas will need to contract globally by 70 per cent by 2050.  The International Energy Agency has made clear that global gas demand needs to begin declining now to achieve net zero and major fossil fuel producing countries like Australia should reduce emissions faster than others. This makes support for new gas supply projects in Australia fundamentally incompatible with the Paris Agreement. ¹

In spite of the science, the BCA has spent decades lobbying to block climate action.

Most recently, the BCA pushed for the government to release weaker climate targets^[1]. It has advocated for more dirty fossil fuels like gas^[2], supporting Woodside’s massive North West Shelf gas extension^[3] — one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in Australia, set to run until 2070. And it’s doing so in the names of some of Australia’s biggest businesses and its customers.

Exposing the greenwash: The Climate Credibility Tracker

Australians interact with these companies almost every day — we shop at their supermarkets, use their telecommunication services, buy their health insurance, bank with them, and sometimes we even go to their universities.

That’s why we launched the Climate Credibility Scorecard^[4] — to cut through the BCA’s spin and show who’s actually walking the talk on climate, and who’s enabling Big Gas.

How the tracker works

We’ve ranked some of the most influential BCA members with strong climate commitments on what steps they’ve taken to distance themselves from the BCA’s lobbying for more dirty gas.

First, companies need to acknowledge the basics – that calling for more gas is incompatible with support for net zero by 2050 and the goals of the Paris Agreement. Then they need to act on that by internally pushing the BCA to shift its position, or publicly noting that the BCA doesn’t represent them.

Companies were ranked out of 5, with 1 point given for each step taken below. Data was collected based on publicly available information (such as annual reports, climate strategies, and media statements) and also from direct communication with companies.

The steps below are considered to be sequential and follow a clear pathway of escalation, but there may be instances where some steps are taken out of order.

Step 1: Recognise the science

Acknowledgement that coal, oil and gas need to be phased out to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Step 2: Speak up

Has advocated within the BCA for it to take a science-aligned approach to climate advocacy including supporting the transition away from coal, oil and gas in line with the Paris Agreement.

Step 3: Take a public stand

Publicly documented a misalignment with BCA’s position on climate and fossil fuels.

Step 4: Review membership

Membership of the BCA is being reviewed, due to ongoing misalignment with the BCA’s advocacy on climate.

Step 5: Cut ties

Has cancelled BCA membership because its fossil fuel lobbying is out of alignment.

We will update this tracker over the course of the campaign if and when a company takes an additional step, so keep checking back!

What the results show

The results paint a clear picture.

• A handful of companies, like Fortescue and Atlassian, have already started calling out the BCA’s gas lobbying.

• But many major household names in Australia, including Telstra, Coles and Commonwealth Bank, have scored zero. This means they have remained silent against the BCA’s gas lobbying.

These companies present themselves as climate leaders. But by staying in the BCA, they’re giving the gas lobby more power in your name.

Why this matters

Australians are already paying the price of fossil fueled climate pollution: higher energy bills, longer and harsher bushfire seasons, devastating floods, and damaged marine ecosystems.^[5][6][7][8]

When companies allow the BCA to do their dirty work lobbying for more gas, they are enabling climate chaos that will affect every day Australians. If they speak out against this dangerous advocacy and stay true to their climate commitments, they take the power away from Big Gas and create space for real and tangible climate action.

Email the CEOs of key companies in the BCA

Tell these brands to break up with Big Gas!

SEND A MESSAGE^[9][10]

¹ Pathways subsequently modelled in the April 2022 IPCC AR6 WGIII report show that limiting warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot, in line with the Paris Agreement, require declines in the global supplies of oil and gas by around 62% and 42% respectively by 2050 (alongside a 95% reduction in coal). In pathways that do not use carbon capture and storage, these numbers are 60% (oil), 70% (gas) and 100% (coal).