A new report from The Fossil Free Pacific Campaign argues Australian governments have undermined the region's solidarity on climate action and could face legal recourse.
Criticism has largely come from the small Pacific nation of Tuvalu, whose climate minister said there is a disconnect between Canberra's words and deeds.
While describing Australia as a long-time friend of Tuvalu, Dr Maina Talia, a climate change academic, added it was "heartbreaking to see the Albanese government continue to proactively support a continued expansion of the fossil fuel industry".
In September, the Australian government green lit the decades-long extension of the North West Shelf Project, set to be one of the biggest gas export projects in the world.
"Australia has dramatically increased the amount of energy it generates from clean, renewable sources, but at the same time, coal mines have been extended and the gas industry has been encouraged to continue polluting up to 2070," Dr Talia said.
"It's a decision that is hard to reconcile with the government's own net-zero-by-2050 target and is incompatible with a viable future for Tuvalu."
Tuvalu is predicted to be the first nation on the planet to be wiped out by rising sea levels driven by pollution.
Sea level rise, caused by climate change, has been eating away at its shores for the 21st century.
Its highest point is only 4.6 metres above sea level, the second lowest only to the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.
Tuvalu's three reef islands with six tiny atolls make up the fourth smallest territory with an area of 26-square kms and the smallest of any fully sovereign nation with less than 11,000 residents.
Climate scientists have estimated that about half of Tuvalu's coral islands will be underwater by 2050.
It is so susceptible that by 2100, 95 per cent of the land mass will no longer exist and it will not be able to house its citizens. This has forced its government to announce plans last year to build a digital copy of the nation, backing up everything from its houses, beaches and trees to create a virtual replica that will hopefully preserve its memory.
Australia can be held liable under international law
The Fossil Free Pacific Campaign report said Australia's climate and energy policies are not consistent with action required to secure a decrease in temperatures by 1.5C degrees.
It said Australia has an obligation to align with the International Court of Justice advisory report, which in July found nation-states could be legally held responsible for its increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
University of Melbourne public law environmental researcher, Dr Liz Hicks, who featured in the report, remarked in the media this week that the advisory opinion is a "real game changer" for Australia's legal obligations.
"We've seen that Australian executive government, both under Liberal and Labor governments, continue to approve new fossil fuel projects and industries receive significant subsidies," she told Radio New Zealand.
Australia has been the leading economic donor to Pacific Island countries, making up 43 per cent of their development finance.
Dr Hicks said Australia has positioned itself as the head of the Pacific family, with the nation giving out aid and acting as the region's security partner. But, Australia is also responsible for the majority of emissions in the region and have done very little to limit fossil fuel expansion, she said.
Individuals and groups are able to bring lawsuits against their own nations for failing to comply with the advisory's opinion, and nation-states could also go to the International Court of Justice to hold each other to account.
The decision by the world's top court has also opened up the possibility for nations, including Tuvalu, to sue against one other.
"This is placing Australia, right now, in a very uncertain position," Dr Hicks said.
"It would not be helpful for Australia's domestic credibility on climate policy, or regionally in the Pacific context, to have proceedings brought against it."
