Media

As Yellen laid out plans to formalise dialogue with China over excess industrial capacity in electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and batteries, saying Washington would not accept U.S. industry being “decimated”, the Chinese finance ministry issued a statement saying it had already “fully responded” to her concerns. One industry where global demand does not keep up with Chinese production, though, is solar. Xuyang Dong, China energy policy analyst at Climate Energy Finance in Sydney, estimates China’s wafer, cell and module capacity coming online in 2024 is sufficient to meet annual global demand now through to 2032. Read more

In 2023, China’s exports of the “new three” totalled 1.06 trillion yuan ($146.6 billion), up 29.9% year-on-year, official data showed. But they accounted for only 4.5% of China’s total yuan-denominated exports last year, so those on Beijing’s side of the debate see the West’s focus on them as hypocritical. Xuyang Dong, China energy policy analyst at Climate Energy Finance in Sydney, estimates China’s wafer, cell and module capacity coming online in 2024 is sufficient to meet annual global demand now through to 2032. (This is also republished on Business World) Read more

In a speech to Queensland’s Media Club, Albanese laid out the foundations of federal Labor’s plan to use taxpayer-funded incentives to advance the manufacturing and clean energy industries, including hydrogen, green metals, solar power and emerging renewables. “Albanese’s speech announcing the Act is ambitious and visionary,” said Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance and a former MD of Citigroup. “It has the makings of the foundation for our future as a zero-emissions trade and investment leader and global clean energy superpower, as we inevitably pivot from our historic dependence on carbon exports. Buckley says Albanese’s vision is to build on Australia’s existing strengths – and critically, also look beyond them – a point many “old-school economists” have so far failed to grasp. “Relying on traditional competitive advantage logic misses that the transition to net zero is a $US4-6 trillion annual investment opportunity globally for the next couple of decades… and one in which every major economy has invested massive national interest public capital,” Buckley said on Thursday. Read more

The news: Australia’s big four banks have allotted a minor share of their collective 2030 sustainable finance target (SFT) to financing renewable energy and hard to abate industries, according to new analysis by Climate Energy Finance (CEF). The numbers: The independent think tank’s report revealed that 7% of the big four banks’ collective $385 billion sustainable finance target was directed to financing renewable energy and hard to abate industries. Read more

Author of the analysis, CEF finance analyst Nishtha Aggarwal, said: “Our analysis shows the banks need to actively reorient their lending if they are to align their climate rhetoric with their capital flows. “They must put ‘their’ money where their mouth is. Trumpeting climate action based on the low hanging fruit of financing minimally green-rated buildings is not enough, and leaves them open to accusation of greenwashing. “The over-representation of fossil fuel interests on Australian banks’ boards is highly likely to undermine the credible pivot of climate finance. The banks should urgently remove the influence of these interests and recruit zero emissions expertise to drive credible net zero capital allocations to renewables and economy-wide decarbonisation. Read more

New analysis released today by independent think tank Climate Energy Finance reveals only 7%* of the Big 4 banks’ collective $385bn sustainable finance target (SFT) by 2030 is directed to financing renewable energy and hard to abate industries, with the vast majority of their climate-related capital – between 44% and 72% – channelled into the low hanging fruit of business-as-usual ‘green buildings’ that meet minimum energy efficiency regulations. This pivotal finding demonstrates that there is an enormous gap in banks’ financing of emissions reduction in key sectors including energy, transport and hard to abate industries. It puts Australia behind in the race to capture the massive investment, trade and employment opportunities of the net zero transformation. Read more

Climate Energy Finance (CEF) Green (Buildings) Wash report has found three of Australia’s big four banks have channeled the bulk of their sustainable finance target (SFT) funds to date, to green buildings, which CEF said meet minimum energy efficiency regulations and leave the banks open to accusations of green washing. From the combined banks’ SFT allocations to date of $184 billion (USD 119 billion), just $12.4 billion, or 7%, has been assigned to the renewable energy or hard-to-abate sectors. Read more

China has by far the world’s biggest wind turbine production capacity, or 60% of 163 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, says Brussels-based industry association Global Wind Energy Council. China exported about $1.42 billion of turbines and components to the EU last year. The situation in China’s wind turbine sector is similar to that in the solar sector, with massive domestic capacity increases underpinned by extensive government support, said Xuyang Dong, China energy policy analyst at Climate Energy Finance in Sydney. “With a domestic supply glut and world leading technology, China will increasingly seek to export turbines.” Read more

Battery storage is the hot-spot in the Australian renewable energy transition right now, but it has barely touched the sides when looking at its potential. The so-called “Swiss Army Knives” of the renewable energy transition have learned how to make returns in some key parts of the grid, but much of their potential – long duration storage and specific services – remains difficult because either the market does not exist, or because of the lack of funding and support. Tim Buckley joins Giles Parkinson, Founder & Editor of Renew Economy, alongside Paul Curnow from Akaysha Energy and Daniel Burrows from Eku Energy. Read more

John Menadue Public Policy Journal: I joined a large audience in the North Sydney electorate on 4 April at a community forum that Kylea Tink called on “The future of our environment”. The message I took home was that the climate crisis is more urgent than ever. Its impacts are increasingly obvious. Roughly 90 percent of the mining industry in this country is foreign-owned. Not surprisingly, when last year was a year of record profits, it was also a year of record lobbying action. Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance, told the Sydney Morning Herald that profits from the export of $240 billion fossil fuels in 2022 led companies to “fund their lobbying efforts to delay climate action and protect their profits”. Read more

Greg Combet’s ascension to incoming chair of the Future Fund is already generating plenty of discussion around the sovereign wealth manager’s role in investing in Australia’s green economic transition, even though he won’t take the reins until July. “They’ve gone from having a climate luddite to a climate evangelist in the chair — so you would expect the fund to have a more significant role and invest more in that area,” said Tim Buckley, director of think tank Climate Energy Finance. Read more

IN Australian Resources and Investment Magazine, Tim Buckley recommends producers look for strategic partners who want to secure long-term, reliable supply, possibly supported by an equity share. “This can be globally – say, Korea, Japan, India and the US, supported domestically by leveraging the growing interest of government-owned finance entities like the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), Export Finance Australia (EFA), and the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF),” he said. Read more