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South Korea has committed at the COP30 climate summit to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) and ending coal-fired power by 2040. This has major implications for coal-exporting Australia. South Korea pledged not to build any new unabated coal plants as part of its membership and reaffirmed its plan to shut down 40 existing coal-fired units by 2040. Tim Buckley, director of think tank Climate Energy Finance and former MD of global investment bank Citigroup said: “South Korea is Australia’s third largest coal market and the world’s fourth largest thermal coal import nation, importing 91Mtpa in 2024. As such, it is brilliant to see South Korea join the Powering Past Coal Alliance at COP30, moving strongly to align with its Paris Agreement commitments to slash emissions. Read more

A Climate Energy Finance report warns taxpayers may face $2 billion in additional subsidies for gas supply and new infrastructure if BlueScope takes over the Whyalla Steelworks and pursues a gas-based sustainability plan. The group says there is no spare pipeline capacity, meaning a new 160-km pipeline, estimated at $500 million, would be required, alongside long-term subsidies due to Australia’s exceptionally high domestic gas prices. Co-author Tim Buckley argues this approach would lock in methane for decades, urging instead that similar public investment support renewable-powered green iron and electric arc furnace steelmaking, which he says is commercially viable and consistent with climate goals. Read more

Tim Buckley, the director of Climate Energy Finance, said the Korean announcement was “brilliant” news and showed Australia’s trading partners were “responding to climate science and their treaty obligations”. “Australia needs to pivot our export focus to low-emissions industries of the future, in particular exporting green iron and aluminium, critical minerals and lithium hydroxide to help our key trade partners jointly deliver on their decarbonisation objectives,” he said. Read more

The Whyalla Steelworks now stands at a critical juncture. The future pathway of the anchor industry of a small town in northern South Australia – and a critically important part of Australia’s industrial infrastructure – will define the economic security of the region. It will also be a test of the Australian government’s commitment to a Future Made in Australia (FMIA) and advancing its vision of a renewable energy powered re-industrialisation. In February 2025, the South Australian government took decisive action to force the Whyalla Steelworks into administration to secure the long-term future of the Steelworks, and that of the region, before the starvation of critical maintenance and sustaining capital under the former ownership would have terminal impacts. Read more

Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance highlights global developments at COP30, pointing to the critical importance of aligning global policy with climate science. Buckley notes that Europe has led the way with its robust emissions trading scheme and carbon border adjustment mechanism. Buckley contends Australia should draw inspiration from Europe, especially regarding carbon pricing and enhancing the Albanese government’s safeguard mechanism. Strengthening this mechanism is seen as essential to send a clear price signal for long-term investment and to align with international decarbonisation efforts. This is critical to Australia leveraging its green iron and steelmaking opportunities in SA and in WA, as CEF releases its Whyalla Steelworks decarbonisation report and Rio announces a partnership with Calix to test green steel production in WA. Read more

One of Australia’s steelworks facilities should be turned into a green iron and steel hub to lead the worldwide race to decarbonise metals. But using gas rather than renewable energy to fuel production could undermine its potential and cost the government billions of dollars in subsidies, a report warns. Clean Energy Finance released the advice about South Australia’s Whyalla Steelworks on Monday from a report endorsed by The Superpower Institute. Read more

Taxpayers will need to pay up to $2bn in additional subsidies if the federal and South Australian governments support an “entirely uneconomic” gas-backed plan to rescue the ailing Whyalla steelworks, according to new analysis by Climate Energy Finance. The warning comes ahead of a decision by administrators over the future of the steelworks, one of only two major integrated steel projects in Australia and the only local manufacturer of rail. Read more

Australia has more than $4 trillion in retirement savings but little of this finds its way to clean energy. Strategist Jeremy Cooper has an idea to fix this. Plus: The Super battery’s not so super moment, and a rush of new projects. Read more

A new report warns that a gas-led transition for the Whyalla Steelworks could benefit South Australian oil and gas giant Santos with billions of dollars in taxpayer funds. Think tank Climate Energy Finance warned a gas-powered transition for the Whyalla Steelworks, rather than a push towards green iron and steel, would “be a grave strategic misstep” for the state and nation in a new report. Read more

Locking in a gas-fired future at the Whyalla Steelworks would undermine Australia’s emerging green iron industry, according to a report by think tank Climate Energy Finance. BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL) is heading up an international consortium with Nippon Steel Corporation, India’s JSW Steel and South Korea’s POSCO, with the steelmakers eyeing Whyalla as a prospective location for future production of “lower-emissions iron” in Australia for both domestic and export markets. But it is Santos (ASX: STO), as gas supplier to Whyalla, that would be the principal beneficiary of government subsidies, the report found. Read more

One of Australia’s steelworks facilities should be turned into a green iron and steel hub to lead the worldwide race to decarbonise metals. But using gas rather than renewable energy to fuel production could undermine its potential and cost the government billions of dollars in subsidies, a report warns. Clean Energy Finance released the advice about South Australia’s Whyalla Steelworks on Monday from a report endorsed by The Superpower Institute. Read more

Taxpayers could be on the hook for up to $2 billion in extra subsidies for gas supply and infrastructure should the BlueScope consortium buy the ailing Whyalla steelworks, analysis by Climate Energy Finance has found. Read more