Media

A Climate Energy Finance report circulated to key Labor ministers and members of the crossbench recommends a $50 million cap on the fuel tax subsidy, with big miners forced to spend any cash they claim beyond that on green energy alternatives. Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King has indicated the government has little appetite to overhaul the fuel subsidy, though at least one major Australian miner has voiced concerns behind closed doors over the implications of an ongoing campaign by green groups to reform the tax. Read more

If Australia is serious about its climate commitments, fiscal sustainability and our generational opportunity to lead as a green energy and exports superpower, this handout that pays polluters to pollute is overdue for substantive reform. CEF proposes that companies be required to reinvest any fuel tax credits above a $50 million annual cap into clean energy diesel alternatives, or forgo these credits (top FTC recipient companies currently claim hundreds of millions of dollars in credits annually). Fortescue, a major beneficiary of fuel tax credits, fully supports our proposal. This year alone, the scheme – a top 20 budget expense – is costing the public purse $11 billion, and this will climb to over $13 billion a year by decade’s end. Read more

Australia is being urged to put a $50 million cap on industry subsidies for diesel fuel, and turn the scheme into a “transition tax incentive” to encourage renewable energy investments. Climate Energy Finance issued the recommendations in an analysis of Australia’s Fuel Tax Credit Scheme on Wednesday. It says the scheme costs taxpayers $11 billion a year while discouraging firms from investing in environmentally friendly projects. The reforms, which would mostly affect large mining companies, have been endorsed by Fortescue Metals. Read more

CEF’s new report finds that Australia’s largest taxpayer-funded fossil fuel subsidy – the diesel Fuel Tax Credit (FTC) Scheme – is entrenching dependence on imported high-emissions diesel to power mining operations, undermining climate targets, damaging productivity and draining tens of billions from the federal budget. Read more

China is home to half of the world’s solar, half of the world’s wind power and half of the world’s electric cars. “In the month of April alone, 45.2GW of solar was added, more than Australia’s total cumulative solar power capacity,” Caroline Wang said. “China’s renewable capacity has exponentially increased and that has also contributed to the drop in coal, in coal use and emissions. There is now a structural kind of decline of coal.” That’s already having an impact on emissions. Read more

Tim Buckley, the director of Climate Energy Finance, said the battery’s delivery could help bring energy prices down by supporting more green energy projects to completion. “It will [help] more wind and solar and firming capacity into the grid, all of which means we will see electricity prices stabilise and then progressively, hopefully come down over time,” he said. Read more

Brendan Lang knows a bit about going electric. The tradie from Melbourne’s north installs electrical appliances, including rooftop solar panels and batteries, in homes transitioning away from gas. So when the time came to replace his Volkswagon Amarok ute, he opted for an EV, figuring it would eventually save him money and help his business. But that decision, he says, was based on the availability of a generous tax break introduced by Labor in 2022. Read more

Blair Palese, founder of CEF partner Climate Capital Forum and CEF board member writes that “Australia faces a unique, time- sensitive economic opportunity. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has rightly put productivity at the heart of Australia’s economic agenda, outlining key pillars to create a dynamic, resilient and fu- ture-ready economy. But events in the US have dramatically ex- panded Australia’s potential economic opportunities.” Read more

For green hydrogen, the valley is looming large after two energy giants withdrew support for multibillion-dollar Australian projects within one month. Following the announcements, a $14 billion plant will no longer be built in Gladstone, Queensland and a $55 billion proposal for Western Australia’s Pilbara region is in doubt. But while the global green hydrogen hype is starting to deflate, climate, energy and finance experts say there are still plenty of reasons to pursue production of the zero-emission fuel in Australia. Read more

Highlights Australia’s Federal Senate Disinformation inquiry ARENA award to Calix $45m Allegra Spender Productivity and Tax Roundtable Lowlights Lithium Hydroxide Refinery Write-off by IGO Main Story The Race to 82% Renewables AEMO’s Quarterly Energy Dynamics 2QCY2025 Methane gas generation plays an important but small and progressively declining role 25% upscaling of the CIS Big BESS News What’s coming up? CEF hoping Minister Bowen will go the top end of the CCA’s 65-75% reduction target. Australia is yet to win the presidency of #COP31, if we do, that will be a key priority for CEF’s Caroline Wang over the coming 15 months. Read more

Tim Buckley, a former investment banker and the director of Climate Energy Finance, describes Adani’s finances as an “extremely complex, opaque corporate structure”. Read more

Stiell’s comments come as Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson push a private member’s bill to scrap Australia’s 2050 net zero target, exposing divisions within the Coalition. Meanwhile, the Albanese government is preparing to set its 2035 target next year, due in September, a decision widely viewed as a test of whether Australia intends to match the pace of global decarbonisation or remain tethered to its fossil fuel export model. Tim Buckley, founder of Climate Energy Finance, said the 2035 target represents Australia’s chance to align with the global clean energy transition and secure long-term economic and geopolitical benefits. Read more