We conduct public interest financial analysis on the most profound economic transformation since the industrial revolution: the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

“Three years ago, Australia had more than 50% of the world’s lithium production, but not anymore,” Climate Energy Finance (CEF) director and former Citigroup managing director Tim Buckley told Paydirt. “This globally dominant position has been eroded significantly. By the start of 2026, domestic mines in China produce more than Australia and I tracked 15 other countries where China has invested in spodumene mines.” The CEF report found China’s investment in clean energy technology and its associated value chain has been pronounced, spending more than $US120 billion on upstream mining and processing projects since 2023 and more than $US220 billion on midstream and downstream cleantech manufacturing and renewables infrastructure in the same period. In the same period, Chinese investment into Australia has collapsed by 85%. Read more

Australia’s AU$50 billion (US$34 billion) annual dependence on imported oil and diesel has become a critical vulnerability that could paradoxically accelerate the nation’s battery storage and renewable energy transformation, according to Tim Buckley, founder and director of Climate Energy Finance. Speaking on the sidelines of the Energy Storage Summit Australia 2026 in Sydney, Buckley warns that recent geopolitical developments, including China’s announcement that it would halt refined oil product exports and escalating US-Iran tensions, have exposed the fragility of Australia’s energy security and created an urgent case for domestic investment in clean energy infrastructure. Read more

There is no such lack of cleantech ambition by the mining magnates’ large customers in China, however. As energy analyst Tim Buckley puts it, the “carnage unleashed by the US-Iran conflict has exposed the fragility – and concentration – of global fossil fuel supply chains”. “ … China is sticking to its script; staying clear of the fray and branding itself as the steady alternative to an unpredictable America. In doing so, it is weaponising its cleantech supremacy as the ultimate tool of green soft power. China has spent years pursuing its ‘self-sufficiency’ drive and electrifying its economy, says Buckley. It has spent more than $US220B building cleantech manufacturing, grids and energy infrastructure overseas since 2023, “and another $US120B securing critical minerals, strategic metals and upstream processing”. Read more