(Bloomberg) – A judge dismissed a long-running legal challenge against Santos Ltd., which had accused the Australian oil and gas producer of misleading investors over its climate strategy.
Santos’ Barossa LNG project offshore northern Australia, a key gas development supporting long-term supply to the Darwin LNG facility and the company’s broader Asia-Pacific export portfolio.
The case brought by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, a shareholder advocacy group, was rejected Tuesday by Justice Brigitte Markovic. Markovic will publish details of her decision Feb. 23, she told the Federal Court of Australia hearing in Sydney.
Adelaide-based Santos was first sued in 2021 by the group, which had alleged the company was deceptive in portraying itself as a clean energy producer in investor materials and by suggesting it had a “clear and credible” plan to hit net zero by 2040.
ACCR also contested the company’s description of natural gas as a clean fuel — a major point of contention among climate activists. The case was the first of its type to legally challenge the validity of a company’s plan to reach net zero, according to the organization.
Santos and the ACCR didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the case.
Litigation related to so-called green-washing continued to expand in 2025, with courts increasingly supporting action to ensure companies present specific and verifiable plans for their claims about tackling global warming, according to a December report by Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.
Energy producer TotalEnergies SE was rebuked by a Paris court in October after a judge ruled a corporate rebrand had misled consumers over its commitments on climate action. In May, CLP Holdings Ltd.’s EnergyAustralia settled with an advocacy group that had mounted a case related to the marketing of carbon offsets.
