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Tim Buckley, the director of the thinktank Climate Energy Finance, says the company’s climate transition plan mostly amounts to “marketing and greenwashing”. He says its emissions cuts to date have been largely due to two things: a significant renewable energy agreement in Chile in 2021, and the closure of an uncompetitive nickel mine in Western Australia. Its annual report forecasts that direct emissions from its operations will increase in the five years to 2030. “What they promise to do by 2050 is irrelevant,” Buckley says. “It’s what they do in the next five years that matters. “And they are doing next to nothing in Australia, and particularly the Pilbara.” Read more

Tim Buckley, from think tank Climate Energy Finance, said BHP was not currently on track to meet net zero operational emissions by 2050. “Their actions are not aligned with the science,” he said. BHP said its global emissions had already fallen 36 per cent since 2020. This is largely due to converting its Chilean copper mines to renewable energy. “BHP continues to focus on delivering our operational emissions target and long-term net zero goal,” the company said in a statement. Read more

BHP consumed 1.23bn litres of diesel and received $622m in fuel tax credits from the federal government in the 2025 financial year, according to analysis of data from Australia’s tax credit scheme. Tim Buckley, a director of the thinktank Climate Energy Finance, said BHP had doubled down on diesel trucks while backing a Minerals Council of Australia campaign against a proposal to limit fuel tax credit rebates to $50m a company each year. “I think BHP is not just ignoring change, they are actively trying to undermine any change,” he said Read more

Andrew Forrest-led Fortescue has blamed a troubled magnetite operation for losing ground to iron ore rivals BHP and Rio Tinto in the race to decarbonise despite setting far more ambitious net zero targets. Fortescue also maintains it is on the cusp of a major milestone in weaning itself off diesel-powered haul trucks after several years of trialling electric and hydrogen powered prototypes with varying degrees of success. A deep drive into emissions from Australia’s top 20 industrial and mining companies shows Fortescue’s emissions increased by 21.6 per cent over the past five years while BHP cut its emissions by 7.7 per cent and Rio by 2.1 per cent. Read more

Matt Pollard, Climate Energy Finance analyst, has recommended an alternative transition idea — use the subsidy to fund decarbonisation. “This would reform the FTC Scheme into a ‘cap-and-reinvest’ model, turning a headwind to diesel displacement by electrification and decarbonisation into a tailwind.” Read more

China is home to some of the world’s most dynamic low-carbon companies” that are “setting new benchmarks ​in high-end manufacturing,” said Natalie Blyth, HSBC’s global head ​of ⁠sustainable finance and transition. “As they scale internationally, they need financial partners with the global reach and expertise to support them. This facility is ⁠designed to ​provide exactly that,” Blyth said. Chinese firms ​have committed more than $180 billion to overseas clean tech investments since 2023, a December ​report by Australian research group Climate Energy Finance showed. Read more

Tim’s interview starts at 3:06:00 Tim Buckley criticised opposition proposals to extend ageing coal-fired power stations and subsidise nuclear energy, arguing they would cost taxpayers “tens to hundreds of billions”, potentially up to a trillion dollars. He said falling wholesale electricity prices in eastern Australia, down 12% year-on-year in early 2026, showed renewable energy and batteries were already lowering costs. Buckley argued recent energy price spikes were caused by fossil fuel volatility following Russian invasion of Ukraine, not the renewable transition. Discussing Origin Energy’s Eraring plant, he warned ageing coal stations were unreliable and prone to catastrophic failures. Read more

In addition, the AU$11 billion annual cost of the diesel Fuel Tax Credit Scheme remained untouched, leaving taxpayers out of pocket and disincentivising mining majors – its key beneficiaries – from investing in decarbonisation. Despite these critiques, the budget does include a massive $7.2 million home battery scheme and increased funding for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). “This budget reflects the many competing needs facing Australians,” said Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance. “A glaring omission in this budget was the failure yet again to reform fossil fuel taxes and subsidies. “A good start, but we need to be more ambitious yet, the cost of climate inaction is simply too extreme to allow.” Read more

Jim Chalmers on Tuesday night described the 2026-27 budget as “the most important and ambitious … in decades.” And while “climate” did not rate a single mention in the federal treasurer’s speech, “getting through the global oil shock and building resilience” topped his five-part economic strategy. But Chalmers’ strategy is notably lacking in ambition on new funding for climate and renewables – and has failed to act on what is broadly considered to be the clearest political mandate, yet, to reform fossil fuel tax loopholes and subsidies. Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley – while noting the $60 billion of decarbonisation and Future Made in Australia funding initiatives put in place over the last four Chalmers budgets – says this is a “glaring omission” in the context of the global fossil fuel shock and cost-of-living crisis. Read more

The country achieved the goal of adding 1,200 GW of wind and solar capacity to the grid by 2030 five years ahead of schedule. China also produces over 80% of the world’s photovoltaic panels, helping drive down costs and accelerating the clean energy transition globally. Its quest to rid itself of dependence on foreign oil and gas has been the chief inspiration for the rapid expansion of domestic energy sources and electrification, says Tim Buckley, director of Australian think tank Climate Energy Finance. Beijing invested early in electric vehicles, and batteries, noted Buckley. Fossil fuel-free vehicles now account for more than half of all car sales in China, compared with about 19% in the European Union. Read more

Tim Buckley from Climate and Energy Finance joins to discuss the good, bad and the ugly from the federal budget, how to fix the Capacity Investment Scheme, and other news. Read more

Australia’s federal budget includes $10 billion to boost diesel and jet fuel supplies and create a government-owned emergency reserve, aimed at improving fuel security. Tim Buckley criticised the continued support for fossil fuels, saying the government missed opportunities to tax LNG exports and reform the $11 billion diesel rebate. He welcomed investments in electrification, batteries and decarbonisation, but said more funding was needed for electric freight, mining and transport. Climate experts said the budget largely maintains existing renewable energy support while continuing major fossil fuel subsidies, raising concerns Australia may struggle to meet its 82% renewable energy target by 2030. Read more