16 September 2022

CLIMATE POLITICS

Labor overhauls Climate Change Authority to counter concerns of excessive business influence (The Guardian): The Albanese government has appointed three women with environmental backgrounds to the board of the Climate Change Authority in a bid to counter concerns the advisory body was taken over by business leaders under the Coalition. The authority was given expanded responsibilities under climate change legislation that passed parliament last week, including advising the government on future emissions reduction targets and an annual statement to parliament by the climate change minister. The advice must be made public, and the minister must explain why if he rejects it. Climate activists have questioned whether the authority’s existing board is qualified to offer scientific advice after the Coalition appointed several business leaders to fill board vacancies.

Albanese’s bid to host UN climate conference ‘hypocritical’: Pacific statesmen (The Sydney Morning Herald): The Albanese government would look hypocritical leading a Pacific nations bid to host a United Nations climate conference, according to regional statesmen, as Australia’s own emissions’ reduction target falls short of what is needed to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. Former Kiribati president Anote Tong and former Palau president Thomas Remengesau, who represent the Pacific Elders Voice group, said the Australian government’s target to cut greenhouse gases 43 per cent by 2030 didn’t meet the standard required of a signatory of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Climate summit snub would be hypocritical: Greens (Australian Financial Review): The Australian Greens have insisted that Anthony Albanese attend the United Nations climate change summit in Egypt in November, arguing that to give it a miss would be hypocritical. After The Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday that Mr Albanese was likely to skip the COP27 summit at the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Greens leader Adam Bandt reminded Mr Albanese of his own badgering of Scott Morrison when the then prime minister considered skipping the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

CARBON MARKETS

‘Untenable’: Even companies profiting from Australia’s carbon market say system must change (Renew Economy): This week, several of the largest companies that profit from Australia’s carbon market called for changes to the system. They said the rules that govern the issuing of carbon credits to some projects were too lax and the market’s integrity should be improved. The companies operate projects under what are known as “landfill gas methods”. Using these methods, landfill gas companies capture and burn methane generated by decomposing rubbish, turning it into carbon dioxide – a less potent greenhouse gas. In return, they receive carbon credits. The industry’s decision to speak out is an important development. It shows a significant proportion of the carbon market is willing to work constructively to improve the system.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Woodside backs away from emissions reduction at $30 billion Browse project (WA Today): Woodside’s final federal environmental submission for its $30 billion Browse gas project has failed to include a commitment to bury up to 107 million tonnes of CO2 that just last month chief executive Meg O’Neill said was essential for the company to meet its climate goals. On Thursday the Perth-based $64 billion oil and gas producer released its responses to almost 20,000 submissions on the plan to develop the remote Browse gas fields off WA’s north west coast and pipe the gas 900 kilometres to its ageing North West Shelf plant near Karratha.

Environmental groups say Glencore greenwashing as it expands Australian coal mining (Renew Economy): Global coal giant Glencore is the target of greenwashing allegations over its claims that it is on a path to net zero emissions while increasing coal mining activities in Australia. The Environmental Defenders Office has lodged a legal complaint against the resources giant, alleging misleading claims on climate impact and its behaviour towards Traditional Owners. The complaint was filed with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission under the Corporations Act on behalf of The Plains Clan of the Wonnarua People (PCWP) and Lock the Gate Alliance, the EDO said. The groups are calling for an investigation of 11 statements by Glencore over its plans to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Patagonia founder gives away $4.4 billion company so all profits will fight climate change (ABC News): Yvon Chouinard, the billionaire founder of the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia, is giving away the company to fight the climate crisis. Mr Chouinard, who has a net worth of $US1.2 billion ($1.7 billion), is transferring his family's ownership of the company to a trust and a non-profit organisation. "Each year, the money we make after reinvesting in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help fight the crisis," he wrote in an open letter on the company's website on Wednesday. Mr Chouinard, who turns 84 this November, said in his letter that he considered multiple paths for the successful clothing company, including selling it or taking the company public, the process of selling a company's shares on a stock exchange. "Instead of 'going public', you could say we're 'going purpose,'" Mr Chouinard said.

ANZ urged to push top 100 emitters harder on transition (Australian Financial Review): ANZ Banking Group said more than half of its 100 biggest emitting customers had either not publicly disclosed plans to transition to net-zero or were just starting to develop their plans as of a year ago, as analysts pushed for updated disclosures about conversations with clients on the transition. At a briefing on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance on Monday, ANZ provided year-old data relating to its biggest emitters, representing 30 per cent of Australia’s overall emissions or more than 150 million tonnes of direct (‘scope 1’) emissions.

Billion-dollar blowout looms over bank carbon bills (Australian Financial Review): The disclosure that Commonwealth Bank’s scope 3 emissions are several times larger than thought highlights the billions of dollars in potential liabilities facing the big four banks.CBA disclosed its scope 3 emissions, which measure the “financed” emissions of its customers, for the first time in its climate report last month. Climate data specialist Emmi estimates they were 2300 times higher than the bank’s direct scope 1 emissions.

‘A lot at stake’: Investors must collaborate and use pension capital to tackle climate crisis, says IFM boss (WA Today): ?Investors must join forces to tackle the risks of climate change and support a smooth transition to a clean economy, says the head of industry super fund-owned IFM Investors, warning a lot is at stake “if we don’t get this right”. David Neal, the chief executive of the $199 billion funds manager, will tell a Governance Institute of Australia conference on Tuesday that to maximise returns for workers who are saving for retirement, investors have a fiduciary duty to consider climate risks.

GREEN PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES

ENGIE’s $87.1 million Yuri renewable hydrogen project in Karratha gets green tick (The West Australian): Australia’s biggest renewable hydrogen project will go ahead in the Pilbara, with support from the Federal and State governments. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency on Friday announced a grant of $47.5 million towards French energy company ENGIE’s green hydrogen and ammonia project near Karratha. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the project would help Australia become a world leader in hydrogen generation. “As we move to a more renewable economy, hydrogen will become an increasingly important part of our energy mix, and will be important in supporting industrial and hard to abate sectors,” he said.

Big German asset manager buys 400MWh big battery portfolio in Australia (Renew Economy): A major German asset manager Aquila Capital – with more than $14 billion under management and a sizeable renewable energy portfolio – has entered the Australian utility battery storage market by buying a portfolio of projects totalling 220MW and 440MWh. The deal with Spanish company Grupo Gransolar is for three battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects in South Australia. Construction of the first project is expected to begin in 2023 and Gransolar’s energy storage arm E22 will continue to manage the projects for Aquila. Aquila APAC communications manage Kelly Weber declined to name which projects they’ve bought, but told RenewEconomy they are “evaluating several opportunities” to follow their first foray in Australia.

Norway’s largest pension fund backs fund pursuing Australia’s biggest battery project (Renew Economy): Oslo based funds manager KLP has invested 2 billion Norwegian kroner ($A300 million) into a Quinbrook renewables investment fund looking to build the biggest battery storage installation in Australia. KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, has $A105 billion in assets and is looking to invest $A1 billion a year into “climate-related investment”, which now account for eight per cent of its total. The KPL money will go into into the Quinbrook Net Zero Power Fund, which is investing into some of the biggest solar plants in the US and the UK, as well as the Supernode project near Brisbane, which will serve data centres and could be the biggest battery storage facility – 2000MWh – in the country.

Global renewable heavyweights plot Australian entry (Australian Financial Review): Spain’s EDP Renewables and France’s ENGIE – two of the world’s largest renewable energy developers – are considering joining the rush to capitalise on Australia’s ambitious offshore wind power goals in the nation’s busiest region for development proposals. Ocean Winds, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and ENGIE, is considering its own offshore wind development in Gippsland, which has attracted nearly a dozen development plans. Engie already owns gas and wind generation in Australia.

Renewable Energy investigation: Could WA be at the centre of the world's wind farm revolution? (The West Australian): Donald Trump loathes wind turbines, particularly when they’re built near his back yard. Describing them as ugly “monsters” that blight the coastline, ruin the countryside and kill birds, the former US president launched a failed legal battle to block the construction of 11 of them off the coast near his golf course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Like it or not, we might just have to get used to them. A new generation of giant wind turbines that would dwarf the Eiffel Tower, rising up to 385m from the Indian Ocean, could become a familiar sight on the horizon when we go for a swim.

Zen Energy buys 200,000MWh of clean energy in latest PPA (Australian Financial Review): Zen Energy has signed a 10-year supply deal with ACCIONA Energia’s Waubra Wind Farm, as the company led by energy expert Ross Garnaut looks to expand its renewable supply portfolio. Zen said the deal would supply it with an estimated 200,000 megawatt hours of zero-emission energy a year. The Waubra Wind Farm, 35km north-west of Ballarat in Victoria, produces enough electricity to power the equivalent of 110,000 homes, and ZEN said it would be taking 34 per cent of the total generation.

Germany wants Australian hydrogen within three years (Australian Financial Review): Germany expects to be a huge green hydrogen importer, starting with first commercial deliveries in 2025, and Australian ventures can carve out part of the market, according to participants in a high-level roundtable with Carbon Challenge in Sydney.

OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST

Regional Australia Institute summit: Regions will be the centre of renewable energy shift (The West Australian): The transition to renewable energy is an “industrial revolution to a timetable” and regional Australia is on the front line of change, a national summit has been told. Tony Wood, the Grattan Institute’s energy and climate change program director, said no section of the Australian economy would be untouched by the energy shift. “We are going to turn our 100-year-old electricity system on its head in 30 years,” Mr Wood told the Regional Australia Institute event in Canberra. “We’re going to take a 200-year-old gas system and basically get rid of it. We’re going to reinvent the way we make aluminium, steel, concrete, cement, explosives and fertilisers.

‘Wake-up call’: SUV sales cancel carbon savings from electric cars (Sydney Morning Herald): Australian motorists’ growing appetite for big, fuel-guzzling utes and SUVs is all but wiping out the climate change benefits of a tripling in electric vehicle sales, prompting calls for stricter vehicle efficiency standards in a country viewed globally as a laggard. The latest report on light vehicle emissions intensity by the National Transport Commission, a state and federal transport policy adviser, will show on Thursday that average carbon pollution from new cars sold in Australia fell just 2 per cent in 2021.

Rooftop solar reaches 72 per cent of demand in world’s biggest isolated grid (Renew Economy): The increasing influence of rooftop solar on the Western Australia grid – the world’s biggest isolated grid – has been demonstrated once again over the weekend as the technology reached 71 per cent of grid demand on Saturday and then bettered that with 72 per cent on Sunday. Spring is the season for renewable energy records, particularly solar, because the sunshine is relatively good and demand is relatively low because temperatures have not jumped high enough to encourage air conditioning units to be switched on. And demand on weekends is usually lower than the weekday.

Climate Council outlines 10 steps to beat government's 43pc emissions reduction target (ABC News):?The federal government's climate target is now enshrined in law. That means that by 2030, Australia's greenhouse gas emissions need to be 43 per cent lower than they were in 2005. While stronger than the 26-28 per cent target it's replacing, the bill only got the required crossbench support on the proviso that 43 per cent was a floor, not a ceiling. Today, the Climate Council has released what it calls a "plug-and-play" road map for policymakers to smash through the ceiling. According to the report, 10 "game-changing" focuses can begin to drive emissions toward a 75 per cent reduction on 2005 levels by 2030, and to achieve "net-zero emissions shortly after".