A new report from InfluenceMap finds that a cross-border network of fossil fuel companies and industry associations in Japan and Australia is exerting sustained influence on government LNG policy, prolonging the use of fossil gas across the Asia-Pacific region. In Australia, this industry influence appears to be leading to the prioritization of gas industry profits over Australian households and climate goals. Australian consumers are currently facing record-high gas prices, with the 50% rise in gas bills nationwide over the last five years (1) repeatedly blamed on the “undersupply of gas”; however, research has shown that over the same period, Australia has exported enough gas to meet domestic demand for over 20 years (2).
This report combines an assessment of Japanese companies’ financial stakes in Australian gas projects with scrutiny of publicly available information on lobbying practices and previously unseen documents obtained through freedom of information (FOI) requests to identify four key tactics—investment, lobbying in Australia, government influence in Japan, and public and political narrative capture—that are being used to maintain a favorable policy environment for continued fossil gas expansion in both countries.
InfluenceMap analysis of capital investment in LNG export facilities shows that Japanese companies, including INPEX, JERA, Mitsubishi, and Mitsui, play a pivotal role in sustaining Australia’s LNG industry. Analysis of planned or operating projects in Australia reveals that Japanese companies are currently involved in 13 major fossil gas export projects and account for approximately USD 52.6 billion, or 21.6%, of the total USD 242.9 billion invested across these projects. If these projects were to maximize their potential output, they would produce annual CO₂ emissions of approximately 290 million tonnes, a figure comparable to the total annual emissions of countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
In Japan, corporate actors with direct financial interest in fossil fuel expansion maintain privileged access to decision-making through substantial representation across energy and climate policy processes. Major trading houses, utilities, and gas associations, such as Mitsubishi, Tokyo Gas, and Japan Gas Association, are found to hold at least 69 positions on key climate and energy policy committees within the Japanese government. This level of participation is reflected in policy outcomes such as the 7th Strategic Energy Plan, which includes measures to support LNG trading and demand development across Southeast Asia, alongside meeting Japan’s domestic energy needs. This strategy helps justify heavy investment from these corporate actors in gas development in Australia.
The report finds that Japanese firms also maintain close relationships with Australian government officials, both directly and via Australian industry associations—affording them opportunities to shape key Australian climate and energy policies in ways that prolong the use of fossil gas. Documents accessed via FOI reveal that Japanese companies involved in LNG projects met privately with Australian Cabinet ministers and officials at least 24 times since the Labor Government’s election in May 2022—although there may have been further meetings, InfluenceMap was not able to gather evidence of them due to the lack of transparency around the Federal Government’s lobbying rules.
These Japanese companies have strong representation, both as members and at the board level, in six prominent Australian industry associations: Australian Energy Producers, the Business Council of Australia, the Minerals Council of Australia, the Queensland Resources Council, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia, and the Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association. The report finds that these associations alone have issued over 350 pro-gas outputs since May 2022. These groups have also engaged directly with policymakers and provided policy submissions that promote the role of new gas supply and LNG exports in delivering domestic and regional energy security, as well as submissions that raise concerns about the potential competitiveness impacts of more stringent climate regulation.
Narrative analysis of the language used by pro-LNG actors in Japan and Australia reveals a misleading web of complementary arguments from companies and industry associations that reinforce one another to build support for fossil gas expansion across the Asia-Pacific region. This is despite the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) AR6 report (3) and the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero Roadmap (4) both conclude that staying within 1.5°C requires a rapid decline in fossil fuel use and that continued large-scale investment in new gas supply is incompatible with science-aligned pathways to this end. In Japan, pro-LNG actors frame gas as a transition fuel, while in Australia, messaging emphasizes affordability and energy security, presenting gas as important for jobs, economic activity, and national interests—allowing LNG to be falsely presented as compatible with climate goals in both markets. Overall, InfluenceMap finds significant misalignment between the arguments presented by these actors and policy pathways that would limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C and as close to 1.5°C as possible.
Despite this, documents obtained via FOI in Australia show that these narratives have filtered into policymaker language in both countries. For example, previously unseen government briefing papers prepared for Resource Minister Madeleine King’s October 2024 visit to Japan echo these arguments directly. Narratives commonly used by fossil fuel companies and their industry associations appear repeatedly throughout the correspondence: “energy security” is mentioned 31 times; “CCS/carbon capture” 35 times; “reliable energy” nine times; “affordable energy” six times; and “technology neutral” three times. These documents further show that a central objective of her bilateral meetings with Japanese companies was to provide assurances on continued LNG supply.
Dr. Monique Ryan MP, Independent Member for Kooyong, said:
The recent heatwave and destructive fires across Victoria present a stark reminder of what’s at stake if we continue approving new coal and gas projects. In spite of the clear scientific consensus to reduce climate pollution, we’re constantly told we need new gas development because of shortages in Australia’s east coast gas market. The reality is that over 80% of Australia’s gas is directed overseas. We don’t have a gas supply problem; we have a gas export and corporate lobbying problem. InfluenceMap’s analysis goes some way to explaining why the Australian government continues to act as an enabler, allowing Japanese gas companies to profit from the resale of Australian gas at the expense of Australian households and businesses. The Australian government’s ongoing support for fossil gas expansion reflects its susceptibility to the relentless lobbying of Japanese gas interests. It reinforces the need for more transparent regulation of corporate lobbying, and for the Australian government to act in the best interests of its citizens rather than those of Japanese companies and their industry associations.
Sophie McNeill, Greens Member of the Legislative Council in Western Australia, said:
This incredible report demonstrates the significant, and insidious, influence the gas industry and the Japanese government have over Australian climate policy. Decades of corporate lobbying have sabotaged climate action and delayed the transition to a sustainable, green future both here in Australia and across Asia. We have seen a steady campaign of misinformation from the fossil fuel industry, promoted blindly by the Australian and Japanese governments, claiming that gas will help the region decarbonise. But the truth is that the ongoing export of WA LNG risks slowing decarbonisation efforts across Southeast Asia by crowding out investment in renewables. Research commissioned by the Western Australian government and released last year made this abundantly clear, despite their best efforts to hide it from the public eye. No matter how hard they try to spin the facts, the gas industry and the Australian and Japanese governments cannot hide the truth that gas is anything other than a dangerous fossil fuel. Rather than caving to pressure from the fossil fuel industry, governments across Australia must do more to accelerate our transition away from fossil fuels and, in doing so, put the interests of Australian households and businesses ahead of corporate profits.
Jack Herring, Australia Program Manager at InfluenceMap, said:
This report shows that while Australian households face record energy bills, Japanese gas companies and their industry associations in Japan and Australia are using their financial clout and political access to influence climate policies in ways that promote the expansion of fossil gas at the expense of Australian consumers, businesses, and the climate. Japanese LNG investment and lobbying in Australia are not merely domestic issues; they risk locking in fossil fuel dependence across the Asia-Pacific. By promoting gas as a ‘transition fuel,’ these companies are pushing a web of narratives that contradict IPCC-aligned pathways and delay the shift to genuinely clean energy. In this context, it is increasingly important that the Australian Government works towards a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.
Jusen Asuka, Specially Appointed Professor, Professor Emeritus, at Tohoku University, said:
With support from the Japanese government, Japanese fossil fuel companies and trading houses have invested large sums not only in coal but also in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas, generating substantial profits, including through resale to other countries. The scale of these investments is much greater than that of other advanced economies. These activities have drawn criticism—primarily from overseas NGOs and think tanks—because they make it almost impossible to achieve the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. However, within Japan, such criticism has largely been drowned out by the narrative promoted by the government and corporations that “natural gas is indispensable for decarbonization.” As a result, many members of the public do not recognize that this narrative is misleading and constitutes greenwashing by the Japanese government and corporations. InfluenceMap’s report specifically demonstrates how the Japanese government and corporations have worked together to exert negative influence not only in Japan but also on climate policies in Australia and other Asian countries, in ways that delay decarbonization.
Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor at The Australia Institute, said:
This research highlights the extraordinary influence Japanese gas corporations have on Australian governments, particularly given how little Australians get in return. INPEX exports vast amounts of Australian gas to Japan every year, and the Australian Government gives them all that gas for free. They also pay little if any corporate or petroleum tax on billions of dollars’ worth of sales of Australian gas and face virtually no consequences for serious pollution breaches. Our elected representatives should remember their job is to represent the interests of Australians, not give our resources away to ingratiate themselves with foreign gas corporations.
Click here to read the full report
Kitty Hatchley, Media Manager, InfluenceMap (London)
Email: kitty.hatchley {@} influencemap.org
(1) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/21/australians-paying-gas-labor-government-new-scheme-prices (2) https://www.australiainstitute.org.au/post/putting-australia-last-20-years-worth-of-gas-exported-in-past-5-years-while-australians-threatened-with-shortages/ (3) https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/ (4) https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-roadmap-a-global-pathway-to-keep-the-15-c-goal-in-reach/executive-summary
