Santos did not hide emissions data, former exec says
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The news: Former Santos project and strategy lead for emissions and clean energy Ying Luo has told the Federal Court that the energy giant did not deliberately hide emissions data as part of ongoing hearings in the Australasian Center for Corporate Responsibility’s (ACCR's) greenwashing lawsuit against the energy company.
The context: The case is the first to challenge the veracity of a company’s net-zero plan.
Luo faced questions today over the removal of scope 1 and 2 emissions data from a document that was later released to the public.
Luo said she did not believe there had been a discussion or that there was a deliberate intent to hide the data, which was removed during the drafting process of documents significant to the case.
Noel Hutley SC, appearing on behalf of the ACCR, asked Luo if she had been told “not to put it in?”
“I don’t recall trying to put it in, nor do I recall being told not to put it in”, Luo told the court, before being pressed by Federal Court of Australia Judge Markovic on the availability of the data in any other related documents that investors or potential investors may have read.
Scope 1 emissions cover those from sources that an organisation owns or controls directly, including using fuel for vehicles or power generators. Scope 2 emissions are those that a company causes indirectly, such as the generation of electricity for its buildings.
Also under scrutiny are statements made by Santos in its 2020 and 2021 investor-related documents, which included forecasts for “net zero” emissions reduction plans and descriptions of natural gas as “clean energy” or of blue hydrogen as “clean” and "zero emissions".
What they said: On forecasts, Luo said: “You have to make a forecast, out 20 years in time. There’s a great deal of uncertainty with forecasts out to 2040".
The source: Federal Court of Australia
