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REPORT | POWER SHIFT: Staggering rise of renewables positions China to end new coal power before 2030
Based on extensive modelling of China’s electricity market, CEF’S new report forecasts that thanks to China’s staggering surge in renewable energy generation, coal power generation will peak well before 2030, then plateau and decline. On the basis of China’s electricity decarbonisation progress to date, the report finds that it is entirely feasible for China to dramatically slow the rate of its new coal power plant buildout and cease the construction of new plants before 2030. This has profound significance for global decarbonisation. China is currently responsible for 96% of the world’s new coal power under construction. Read more
OP ED | More Emissions is Not Less Emissions: Woodside AGM Sees ‘Climate Action Plan’ Torpedoed by Heavyweight Investors
This week’s voting down of Woodside Energy’s misnamed Climate Transition Action Plan at the oil and gas giant’s 70th AGM is historic. It represents a milestone in shareholder activism – and a clarion call that the tide is turning on laggard fossil fuel majors that fail to responsibly and credibly address the greatest single risk they face: climate change. Read more
Future Made in Australia Act to Put Australia in Global Cleantech Race
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today announces the Future Made in Australia Act, designed to deliver a uniquely Australian Response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – which is turbocharging renewables, cleantech and reindustrialisation in the US as it drives massive private capital investment – and comparable initiatives across other major economies. The Act will bring together a co-ordinated and comprehensive package of new and existing decarbonisation initiatives to seize the opportunities of a future made in Australia. It promises massive new investment, regional employment and net export opportunities, leveraging and value-adding our world-leading natural resources, both renewables and mining, as well as our expertise, geographic position in Asia and financial strengths. Read more
Green (Buildings) Wash?: Big banks’ ~$400bn sustainable finance target misses mark on driving enormous net zero opportunity by disproportionate allocation to minimally energy-efficient property asset class
The new analysis is the first to quantify and compare the capital allocations of the Big 4 banks to renewable energy and whole of economy decarbonisation. It reveals that only 7% of the Big 4 banks’ collective $385bn sustainable finance target (SFT) by 2030 is directed to financing renewable energy and hard to abate industries. The vast majority of their climate-related capital allocations – between 44% and 72% – channelled into the low hanging fruit of BAU ‘green buildings’ that meet minimum energy efficiency regulations. Read more
REPORT | More coal subsidies to extend Eraring? Heads, Origin wins; Tails, taxpayers lose
CEF’s new report reveals taxpayers would be on the hook for $150m per year in subsidies to Origin Energy to keep ageing coal clunker Eraring operating beyond its planned closure date in August 2025, and confirms there is enough renewable capacity in the pipeline to offset the closure. Read more
Happy birthday Snowy 2.0, now a $12bn debacle
On the 7th anniversary of the announcement of Snowy 2.0, Owen Evans chronicles an unmitigated energy infrastructure disaster – a case study in what not to do. Read more
Super opportunity: Government review of YFYS Performance Test
Australia’s superannuation industry is on track for massive growth, projected to reach a staggering $13.6 trillion over the next twenty-four years. This shows the monumental significance of what our superfunds invest in, placing them at the heart of the nation’s financial landscape. According to a new report by Mercer, by 2048, the value of superannuation assets is expected to be 176% of Australia’s GDP, demonstrating its immense significance to the country’s economic well-being and direction. Read more
OP ED | Climate capital needs right policy settings to stem exodus
Last week’s announcement by AusSuper, Australia’s biggest super fund with over $300bn in assets under management, that it will dramatically upscale its investments offshore, including A$15.5bn into large-scale, long-term energy transition opportunities in the UK, should be a wake-up call to Australian energy policymakers. Read more
