Our work

CEF’s comprehensive summation of the critical minerals opportunity for Australia including a response to the federal consultation’s Terms of Reference and key policy recommendations. Read more

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) released its fourth quarter of 2022 Quarterly Energy Dynamics report today. It is a welcome reminder that the energy transition is well established and accelerating beyond expectations. While rampant fossil fuel price hyperinflation caused mass disruption in 2022, the underlying trends are clear – and the burgeoning of renewables and decline of coal and gas in the grid ultimately spell permanent price relief. After the historic Q4 federal government intervention to cap wholesale prices of gas and coal, prices on the electricity futures market more than halved in the final three months of 2022, as renewables set new records. Read more

The foundational premise of CEF is that financial markets are phenomenally powerful, but they need an explicit, high, permanent price on carbon to drive the rapid decarbonisation pathway required to ensure alignment with 1.5°C, which was made politically toxic by the previous government. In our view, the SGM reforms by the Albanese government could be strengthened, but create a credible framework to re-establish a price on carbon emissions in Australia. Read more

CEF’s submission to the NSW government on the proposed Winterbourne Wind Farm in the New England region. The project is expected to generate approximately 2,100,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year of clean, renewable energy — enough to power more than 375,000 average NSW homes for a year. Read more

Post the Safeguard Mechanism and ACCU reviews, Australia finally has the framework for a credible carbon price, the key driver of energy transition; gas wars hot up; our latest analysis of Australia’s critical minerals, new economy metals and manufacturing opportunities, looking at embodied decarbonisation; and our most recent bank assessment, this time focussing on CBA. Read more

Energy Minister Chris Bowen this month reported on the Federal Government’s review of the Safeguard Mechanism, the central policy driver of scope 1 industrial emissions reductions by Australia’s 215 biggest emitting facilities. Also this month, the outcomes of the Chubb Review of Australian Carbon Credit Units were handed down. The reforms of these key pieces of climate and energy policy architecture were urgent and necessary. Our key takeout: the proposed changes now provide the framework for a credible carbon price in Australia. Read our full analysis. Read more

Paper # 9 in CEF’s critical minerals series: Our nation’s massive firmed RE and critical minerals comparative advantages provide a once in a century opportunity for Australia to become a global leader in decarbonised heavy industry. In the latest instalment in our series on critical minerals and new economy metals and manufacture, we review the efforts of Australian mining and refining, energy and manufacturing companies in decarbonising their operations by shifting to renewables. Read more

In the fourth in CEF’s series of climate finance analyses of Australia’s Big 5 banks, Nishtha Aggarwal reviews CommBank’s FY2022 full year financial disclosures across four climate themes. CBA is the largest Australian bank by market and plays a role in more than 40% of all domestic financial transactions. We find CBA is getting the trend right, setting a benchmark in sustainable finance transparency and success in oil and gas portfolio decarbonisation, but can still do more to pivot balance sheet financing of Australian climate solutions. Read more

As the ACT bans methane gas connections in new homes, new peer-reviewed research finds that 13% of childhood asthma cases in the US can be attributed to gas stove use. Tim Buckley writes that it’s time to turn off this expensive, toxic legacy fuel, shut down the cartel’s self-interested gaslighting, and “electrify everything” – reaping the economic, health and climate benefits of the transition. Read more

Our wrap of the top ten energy events in 2022, including the end of federal climate and energy policy chaos under the LNP, and our wishlist for an even better 2023! Read more

In the third instalment in our series of climate finance analyses of Australia’s Big 5 banks, CEF’s Nishtha Aggarwal reviews Westpac’s FY2022 full year financial disclosures across 4 key themes. We find that while Westpac is making progress, e.g., mitigating greenwash through lending classifications that improve disclosure on sustainable finance, and decreasing coal, oil and gas lending, there is significant room to improve ambition across all 4 themes. Read more

Having moved decisively with an energy price relief plan that addresses the worst of the gas cartel’s market failure, Energy Minister Chris Bowen is again moving at speed on the energy transition, with 8 major new battery developments that will accelerate the deployment of much needed storage for grid firming capacity by 2025, attract close to $3 billion in private capital and add 2GW of capacity. Read more