Financiers of Papua LNG face high risks as no binding or non-binding sales agreements have been made. The project’s emissions footprint is also a concern. It will increase PNG’s energy and industry emissions by more than 7%. While some actions are being taken by the project partners to reduce their operating emissions, those only represent 10% of Papua LNG’s total carbon footprint.

The total scope 3 emissions of the project over its lifespan are estimated at 220 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MTCO2e). None of the project partners, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Santos have any ambition to reduce their scope 3 emissions, raising concerns with investors who are starting to ask for more action to align with the Paris Climate Agreement objectives. Keeping global temperatures well below 2 degrees will be critical for PNG, a country particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.