Media

The opportunities are enormous for Australia, says Tim Buckley, a director at think-tank Climate Energy Finance in Sydney. “Australia has always been a lucky country. We are blessed. We supply half of the world’s iron ore and lithium. We also have the best wind and solar resources in the world,” he says. Potentially, Australia could not only export the raw minerals and materials needed for the green transition, but also do the value-added processing, Buckley suggests. However, that hinges on international collaboration with key partners, including China, which not only has the best technology when it comes to solar, but is also the biggest buyer of critical raw materials from Australia. “As the buyer, they want a lower price. We’ve got a disproportionate power relationship,” says Buckley. “China’s got the value-add. Australia needs to reset the bar.” Read more

Where China once built an industry from Australian innovation, Australia now needs China’s help to do the same. To build low-cost panels at scale, experts say Australia needs access to the production line technology and manufacturing patents China has developed over the past 20 years. “I see manufacturing [intellectual property] as a challenge but also an opportunity,” Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, said. “This is a way of enhancing collaboration with China.” Read more

A group of seven Australian renewable energy industry organisations and investment bodies has called on the government to stay the course on the Future Made in Australia Act (FMAA) and back it with targeted budgetary commitments to leverage a “once-in-a century” decarbonisation opportunity. The Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG), Clean Energy Council (CEC), Rewiring Australia, Smart Energy Council (SEC), Beyond Zero Emissions, Climate Energy Finance (CEF), and Climate Capital Forum have stood as one to show their support for the recently announced initiative that is designed to build local industries focusing on the clean energy transition. Read more

In a show of unity, Australia’s leading energy industry players and investment groups have thrown their weight behind Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s landmark ‘Future Made in Australia’ initiative. Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, urged the government to “hold its nerve and deliver an ambitious and coordinated package of budget incentives”, enabling Australia to pivot from its historic over-dependence on fossil fuels to a zero-emissions global trade and investment leader. Read more

Australian Associated Press – Clean energy companies and investors called on the federal government to “hold its nerve” and deliver an ambitious and coordinated package of budget incentives to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. In a joint statement, they urged Treasurer Jim Chalmers to use the May budget to encourage investment, as rival economies throw trillions of dollars into renewable energy and clean tech to secure their national interests. “We urge the government to hold its nerve and deliver an ambitious and coordinated package of budget incentives,” Mr Buckley said. Read more

Climate Energy Finance (CEF) says buildings are the “low-hanging fruit” that make up the lion’s share of the big four banks’ sustainable finance target (SFT) of $385 billion by 2030 – while just 7% flows to financing clean energy and hard-to-abate sectors. There is a green financing shortfall across key sectors including energy, transport and cleantech, the independent think tank says. Report author, CEF analyst Nishtha Aggarwal says the banks’ current strategies rely on investing in “business-as-usual” real assets that “meet minimum energy efficiency regulations” – leaving the banks “open to accusation of greenwashing”. Read more

Responding to criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Made in Australia Act, a group of energy and finance leaders joined forces on Thursday to call for the scale of budget support required for decarbonisation. Australia could not afford to “sit out” the accelerating global transition and needed taxpayer support to unlock the private capital needed for zero-emissions economic opportunities, they said. Read more

The story quotes CEF partner – the Clean Energy Investor Group, representing developers and investors with a combined $38 billion renewable energy portfolio and a project pipeline of almost 50 gigawatts, welcomed the policy, saying it could unlock significant investment through the superannuation system. Read more

The clean energy industry is urging the federal government to “hold its nerve” and deliver an ambitious and coordinated package of budget incentives to win back investors. Responding to criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Made in Australia Act, a group of energy and finance leaders joined forces on Thursday to call for the scale of budget support required for decarbonisation. Climate Energy Finance think tank director Tim Buckley said the “ambitious and visionary” Made in Australia Act sets the nation up for the speed and scale of investment for a place in the global net-zero economy. “We urge the government to hold its nerve and deliver an ambitious and coordinated package of budget incentives,” Mr Buckley said. This would enable Australia to pivot from the “historic over-dependence on fossil fuels” to a zero-emissions global trade and investment leader, he said. Read more

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Nishtha Aggarwal, an analyst at the independent think tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF), has roundly criticised Australia’s big four banks for touting sustainability rhetoric without following through with meaningful action. “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,” said Aggarwal. “They must put ‘their’ money where their mouth is.” An analysis of the major banks’ sustainable finance target (SFT) allocation to date found that a massive 44 per cent of funding was allocated to green buildings. Read more

Japan’s largest power company and one of the largest thermal power producers in the world has announced the launch of a major new global renewables business, becoming the latest fossil giant to act on the existential threat of net zero to its business model. On balance, however, Buckley and Aggarwal say the transition of another “fossil fuel dinosaur” into offshore wind adds to mounting evidence that they are “belatedly starting to react to the existential threat of net zero to their business models.” Read more