Media

CEF’s new report on Diesel Fuel Rebate subsidy reform “Transition Tax Incentive: Reforming Fuel Tax Credits into a Decarbonisation Tailwind”. A policy proposal to phase-out the fuel tax credit scheme for its largest beneficiaries with a transition tax incentive scheme to accelerate electrification and decarbonisation. Since the Fuel Tax Act 2006 (starting FY07), the FTC Scheme has provided $123bn in diesel subsidies to FY25. Beyond this, by FY30, it will have provided $184bn in subsidies. Read more

Climate Energy Finance Director Tim Buckley has called for reform of Australia’s diesel fuel subsidy. This comes as business groups have expressed concern following Labor’s economic reform roundtable. “What we have called for is a $50 million per company, per annum cap to the diesel fuel rebate,” Mr Buckley told Sky News Australia. “Not one farmer, not one truck driver, not one small or medium-sized enterprise will be affected; it only affects the 15 largest mining companies in Australia.” Read more

Caroline Wang, the China engagement lead at the Australian think tank Climate Energy Finance, said: “Rising protectionism and supply chain regionalisation have led to a trend by Chinese firms moving from export of products to export of industry, that is localising manufacturing. “On standard-setting, the Chinese government is pushing for the development of standards in the green and low-carbon sector of industry and information technology, and to improve and enhance the green and low-carbon standards system.” Read more

CEF proposes that companies be required to reinvest any fuel tax credits above a $50 million annual cap into clean energy diesel alternatives, or forgo these credits (top FTC recipient companies currently claim hundreds of millions of dollars in credits annually). Fortescue, a major beneficiary of fuel tax credits, fully supports our proposal. This year alone, the scheme — a top 20 budget expense — is costing the public purse $11 billion, and this will climb to more than $13 billion a year by decade’s end. Republished from Renew Economy Read more

In 2022 the Albanese government set aside $20 billion for its ‘Rewiring the Nation’ fund, to upgrade Australia’s electricity grid. In August 2023, the federal government signed a deal for $3 billion of that money to be set aside for Western Australian projects. But the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has confirmed to the ABC not a single dollar has been allocated to specific projects under that deal. Read more

A Climate Energy Finance report circulated to key Labor ministers and members of the crossbench recommends a $50 million cap on the fuel tax subsidy, with big miners forced to spend any cash they claim beyond that on green energy alternatives. Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King has indicated the government has little appetite to overhaul the fuel subsidy, though at least one major Australian miner has voiced concerns behind closed doors over the implications of an ongoing campaign by green groups to reform the tax. Read more

If Australia is serious about its climate commitments, fiscal sustainability and our generational opportunity to lead as a green energy and exports superpower, this handout that pays polluters to pollute is overdue for substantive reform. CEF proposes that companies be required to reinvest any fuel tax credits above a $50 million annual cap into clean energy diesel alternatives, or forgo these credits (top FTC recipient companies currently claim hundreds of millions of dollars in credits annually). Fortescue, a major beneficiary of fuel tax credits, fully supports our proposal. This year alone, the scheme – a top 20 budget expense – is costing the public purse $11 billion, and this will climb to over $13 billion a year by decade’s end. Read more

Australia is being urged to put a $50 million cap on industry subsidies for diesel fuel, and turn the scheme into a “transition tax incentive” to encourage renewable energy investments. Climate Energy Finance issued the recommendations in an analysis of Australia’s Fuel Tax Credit Scheme on Wednesday. It says the scheme costs taxpayers $11 billion a year while discouraging firms from investing in environmentally friendly projects. The reforms, which would mostly affect large mining companies, have been endorsed by Fortescue Metals. Read more

China is home to half of the world’s solar, half of the world’s wind power and half of the world’s electric cars. “In the month of April alone, 45.2GW of solar was added, more than Australia’s total cumulative solar power capacity,” Caroline Wang said. “China’s renewable capacity has exponentially increased and that has also contributed to the drop in coal, in coal use and emissions. There is now a structural kind of decline of coal.” That’s already having an impact on emissions. Read more

Tim Buckley, the director of Climate Energy Finance, said the battery’s delivery could help bring energy prices down by supporting more green energy projects to completion. “It will [help] more wind and solar and firming capacity into the grid, all of which means we will see electricity prices stabilise and then progressively, hopefully come down over time,” he said. Read more

Brendan Lang knows a bit about going electric. The tradie from Melbourne’s north installs electrical appliances, including rooftop solar panels and batteries, in homes transitioning away from gas. So when the time came to replace his Volkswagon Amarok ute, he opted for an EV, figuring it would eventually save him money and help his business. But that decision, he says, was based on the availability of a generous tax break introduced by Labor in 2022. Read more

Blair Palese, founder of CEF partner Climate Capital Forum and CEF board member writes that “Australia faces a unique, time- sensitive economic opportunity. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has rightly put productivity at the heart of Australia’s economic agenda, outlining key pillars to create a dynamic, resilient and fu- ture-ready economy. But events in the US have dramatically ex- panded Australia’s potential economic opportunities.” Read more