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The Bonaparte CCS project is owned by Inpex, Woodside and TotalEnergies, which want to store captured carbon dioxide under the seabed on a site about 250km offshore from Darwin from 2030. Science and industry minister Tim Ayres awarded major project status to the CCS project and the Northern Silica project, and extended the status to Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable project and the Broken Hill cobalt blue project, as part of the federal government’s effort to modernise the country’s energy system. Read more

The weekend saw a seismic escalation in the conflict in the Middle East, as the US bombed Iran’s key uranium enrichment facilities. This followed Israel’s campaign of military intervention on the justification that Iran must be prevented from developing nuclear capabilities. The situation represents a dramatic increase in geopolitical instability in the region – a key source of global fossil fuel energy production and exports – and has potentially dire consequences for worldwide energy markets and economies dependent on imports for their energy needs. Australia is one such economy. Read more

The Highlights * Tim’s TED X Sydney * Net-Zero Export Target Proposal: ANU’s Frank Jotzo and Annette Zou * Heavy Equipment Decarbonisation: BHP signs MoU with China’s XCMG * China’s Cleantech Outbound Investment (OFDI): China building cleantech infrastructure abroad (e.g., 10GWh EV battery plant in France for Renault). $170B tracked in cleantech OFDI since 2023 Read more

Electrification and decarbonization are key global themes in 2025, as are rapidly changing geopolitical circumstances. While some countries are abrogating their global commitments to act on climate science while upending world trade, there is also a growing interest in re-aligning towards countries and regions keen to pursue enhanced cooperation and collaboration. As the environmental and economic costs of climate change continue to rise, both the economics and energy independence benefits of the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) pledge by almost 200 countries back in 2023 to triple renewable energy deployments by 2030 looks more and more strategically compelling Read more

On June 5, CEF released a report arguing that carbon pricing is the most cost-effective tool for decarbonizing the global economy. Implementing CBAM targeting key industrial commodities—such as steel, cement, and aluminum—would restore carbon markets, support global emissions reductions, mitigate climate risks, and redirect capital away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy and green industrial products. The report found that carbon pricing mechanisms are becoming increasingly common in the Asia-Pacific region, with 17 national or subnational systems currently in operation, including China’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). Read more

As the European Union (EU)’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) comes into effect amid the global tariff wars, a new report is calling for Asia to enact its own carbon border levy to ease the public cost of decarbonising the region’s heavy industries. Read more

Despite the raging global trade war, Climate Energy Finance (CEF) is calling for carbon tariffs on some imports and for Australia to lead the way for a regional Asian carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). CEF argues in its new report A price on carbon: Building towards an Asian carbon border adjustment mechanism that carbon border tariffs in international trade are urgently needed to put a price on the carbon emissions embedded in the production of industrial commodities such as iron and steel, aluminium and cement, which make up 15% of global emissions. Read more

A pan-Asia Pacific carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) taking in the wealthiest industrial nations covering steel, cement, and aluminium is the best and cheapest way to reduce emissions from these hard-to-abate sectors while preserving margins and industries, an Australian think tank argued in a report Thursday. Read more

Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance, discussed the growing momentum around carbon pricing in Australia and the need for […] Read more

In Canberra Times and syndicated across 100+ mastheads, The case for Asian carbon border tariffs has been made by think tank Climate Energy Finance days after the federal energy minister signalled openness to charges at the border on emissions-heavy steel and cement. Carbon border adjustment mechanisms, known as CBAMs, can level the playing field for heavy industries subject to domestic carbon pricing. Read more

As Energy Minister Bowen flags a carbon tariff on some imports, Australia well placed to lead development of a path towards a regional Asian Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism Read more

Australia is well placed to lead development of a path towards a regional Asian Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism involving China, Australia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea, as it bids to host COP31. China, as the world leader in decarbonisation and in steel, aluminum and cement, is key. Read more