Media

Prof Elizabeth Thurbon writes on CEF’s green iron report and the immense strategic opportunity for Australia in establishing a green iron and steel industry Read more

The election of Donald Trump – a felon and climate crisis denier – as president of the United States comes as a stroke of bitter irony after recent floods exacerbated by global warming smashed parts of the southeast US – Hurricane Milton alone is likely to cost up to US$50 billion – and given the escalating intensity of wildfires and other natural disasters taking a huge toll on America and other countries. Trump’s “drill baby, drill” energy policies are a disaster for the US, intergenerational equity and global efforts to mitigate the climate crisis. Read more

The re-election of Donald Trump as US president – a charlatan, fool, felon and climate denier captured and paid for by the fossil fuel cartel – is a bitter irony after the devastating climate-change driven floods that smashed parts of the southeast US recently. Trump’s ‘drill baby drill’ climate and energy ‘policies’ are a disaster for the nation, for intergenerational equity and equality, and will impact global efforts to mitigate climate change. Read more

As part of the USSC Debate Papers series, the Centre invited Xuyang Dong, China energy policy analyst at Climate Energy Finance, and Noah Gordon, acting co-director of the Sustainability, Climate and Geopolitics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss whether the United States, Australia and other like-minded allies and partners should cooperate or compete with China when it comes to fighting climate change. Read more

As John Hewson and Tim Buckley write, i the one-page nuclear policy pamphlet the LNP released in June, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton states that “of the world’s 20 largest economies, Australia is the only one not using nuclear energy, or moving towards using it.” Even this claim lacks credibility and relies on half-truths – so no wonder Dutton and his nuclear-spuiking sidekick Ted O’Brien are failing to get buy-in on their delusion from those in their own party, let alone most experts. Read more

As the world races to decarbonise, China is leading the way. It committed more than $145 billion (USD 100 billion) in outbound foreign direct investment since 2023 across decarbonisation sectors including solar, wind, batteries, grid, new energy vehicles, hydro and green hydrogen. Yet, as the momentum of China’s green capital tsunami accelerates, Australia finds itself at a critical juncture: will we ride this wave, or be left behind? Read more

Australia China Business Council chair David Olsson reflects on CEF’s new Green Capital Tsunami report, which tracks $100bn since 2023 in foreign investment by Chinese firms in sun, wind, EVs, batteries and other cleantech around the world, noting that Australia has untold potential to partner with China and attract investment from the world’s cleantech superpower – if we get the foreign investment rules right. Read more

China’s massive expansion of green technology can help the world decarbonise and decrease prices at a speed and scale required by the climate crisis. Read more

As Tim Buckley and AM Jonson write the record high of low-cost wind and solar in the grid comes as we are still waiting for the Coalition’s budget projections on its plan to nationalise the eye-watering cost of seven nuclear plants. Read more

As China’s construction slump and steel glut bite, the chairman of government-owned China Baowu Group, the world’s largest steelmaker, has warned China’s steel sector will enter a “severe winter” more challenging than even the major downturns experienced during the GFC of 2008. This spells trouble for iron ore. Australia is the world’s largest iron ore exporter, and it is our number one commodity export, with over 80% going to China. The benchmark iron ore price has fallen below $US100/tonne, while prices for metallurgical coal used in steelmaking have dropped by a third to US$202/t in just 2 months. Read more

Elaine Johnson and Tim Buckley argue community concerns and environmental impacts mean that some mining projects, such as the Regis gold mine is NSW should have never got the go ahead. Read more

Fossil fuel lobbyists are exploiting farmers in claims they need the diesel rebate, an $11 billion+ subsidy, to survive. Matt Pollard and Read more