Goldfields Gas Transmission Pipeline

Goldfields Gas Transmission Pipeline is a other facility operated by Goldfields Gas Transmission Pty Ltd in WA. Like all covered facilities, industrial operations generate significant emissions. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, Goldfields Gas Transmission Pipeline must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, Goldfields Gas Transmission Pipeline reported emissions of 114 kt against a baseline obligation of 108 kt — an overage of 6 kt. The facility covered the 6 kt overage by purchasing 6,253 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) — credits generated by carbon abatement projects elsewhere in Australia such as soil carbon farming, avoided land clearing, and landfill gas capture.

Purchasing credits is legal and intended by the Safeguard Mechanism's design — the policy deliberately allows facilities to choose between cutting on-site emissions or funding abatement elsewhere in the economy. Whether credit purchases represent genuine long-term decarbonisation depends on whether the facility's absolute emissions are trending down over time. The chart above shows the trajectory since reporting began. This question applies to all covered facilities under the Safeguard Mechanism, not Goldfields Gas Transmission Pipeline specifically.

Across the other sector, 8 of 8 covered facilities reported emissions above their baseline in 2023–24. The table below compares Goldfields Gas Transmission Pipeline with other other facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.