Australia's Woodside Energy Drops Its Climate Promises While Profits Soar
Woodside Energy, one of Australia's biggest oil and gas companies, has scrapped its long-term emissions and clean energy targets. The company announced the change on 25 August 2026, the same day it reported a 27% jump in sales profit to US$1.67bn (A$2.33bn) The Guardian.
The company, led by new chief executive Liz Westcott, said it would "retire" what are called its scope 3 targets. Scope 3 emissions are the pollution created when customers burn the oil and gas Woodside sells. If you think of Woodside as a tobacco company, scope 3 would be the smoke from the cigarettes, not the factory that makes them. Woodside also dropped a promise to spend US$5bn (A$7bn) on clean energy products like hydrogen by 2030. Its US ammonia business is under review. The company said its clean energy work will now depend on customer demand and market conditions rather than fixed spending pledges The Guardian.
The news came with results that reward shareholders right away. Woodside declared an interim dividend of US57c per share, up from US53c a year earlier. The 27% rise in sales profit came from higher oil and gas prices and strong production The Guardian.
Woodside's own sustainability reports show that its direct emissions for the first half of 2026 totalled 6,616 kt CO2-e. That was 2.5% lower than the same period in 2024, even though it produced more oil and gas, and 15% below the company's starting baseline. Woodside had already met its 2025 goal of cutting these direct emissions by 15% and had set a further target of 30% by 2030 Woodside Climate. These direct emissions are called scope 1 and 2, meaning pollution from Woodside's own operations. Those targets remain. What the company dropped are the scope 3 targets, which cover the much larger amount of pollution created when customers burn Woodside's products.
The company is not making this change from a position of financial trouble. In February 2026, Woodside's 2025 annual profit beat analyst expectations, and shares rose 2.9% to A$27.890, their highest since early August 2024 Reuters. First-quarter 2026 revenue also beat estimates, with an average selling price of US$63 per barrel of oil equivalent, and the company kept its annual production forecast of 172–186 MMboe Reuters. In April 2026, Woodside announced a broader business review Reuters. Earlier, fourth-quarter 2025 results released on 27 January 2026 had shown a 13% fall in quarterly revenue and a lowered 2026 production outlook Reuters, but later quarters reversed that decline.
Climate groups responded quickly. Brett Morgan, who runs investor campaigns at Market Forces, criticised Woodside for dropping both its scope 3 emissions targets and its clean energy investment promises The Guardian.
Westcott leads a team that includes chairman Richard Goyder AO and chief financial officer Graham Tiver Woodside Investors. The company has scheduled an online shareholder Q&A for Thursday, 27 August 2026 at 9.00am AWST (11.00am AEST), giving investors their first chance to ask management why the targets were changed Woodside Investors.
The broader context here is a growing tug-of-war across the oil and gas industry in 2026 between paying shareholders and keeping climate promises. Woodside's results show its core oil and gas business is bringing in strong cash, with the higher dividend and 27% profit rise making conventional production look financially attractive. But by dropping its scope 3 targets, Woodside has removed the plan it had given to investors and regulators for dealing with the largest part of its carbon footprint — the emissions from customers burning its fuel. Abandoning the US$5bn clean energy pledge and reviewing the ammonia business also narrows the company's path toward cleaner fuels like hydrogen. The central question now is whether customer demand alone will keep those clean energy projects alive without a firm financial commitment behind them.
