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Tim Buckley of Climate Energy Finance reflects on the commitment by 118 countries to treble their renewable energy and double their energy efficiency by 2030, set out at COP28 summit. He points out that while this ambitious goal is set, much hinges on which year gets used as the baseline. Tim emphasises China’s efforts in increasing their installation rates of wind and solar energy solutions. He sees this pledge as a potential turning point. Read more

A capital recycling partnership with AustralianSuper or another pension fund where Origin built projects and then sold stakes after completion could allow 15 GW worth of projects over the next decade if combined with a dividend reinvestment plan underwritten by a big fund, according to Tim Buckley, a director at think tank Climate Energy Finance. Read more

Clean energy advocate Tim Buckley warned the performance test also encouraged investments in fossil fuels as the current list of market indices favoured past market performance, which has been “heavily skewed in the past year or two to fossil fuel commodity windfall profits”. “Reforming the benchmark could enable super funds, including AustralianSuper, to move from decarbonisation investment blockers into global leaders, like Canada’s Brookfield and Singapore’s Temasek and GIC,” he wrote in the Financial Review this week. Read more

China Energy Policy Analyst Xuyang Dong spoke with Michelle Chen from SBS Madarin about CEF’s recent report – Decarbonising China & the World: Chinese Energy SOEs Supercharge Renewable Investment in Response to the 14th Five Year Plan. Xuyang told SBS that after tracking the investment trends of China’s five largest energy-focused state-owned enterprises, we found that these enterprises’ huge investments in new energy sources have significantly accelerated China’s decarbonisation. The report states that China’s demand for Australian coal will be significantly reduced and calls on the government to create a national strategic investment plan to secure the future of Australia’s energy exports. Read more

Tim Buckley comments for Energy Mix magazine: “China is well on the way to delivering its previous pledge of 1,200 GW of renewables by 2030 up to six years early, so for China to treble its cumulative efforts by 2030 is entirely feasible, given the phenomenal momentum that is already well under way,” said Tim Buckley, director of the Climate Energy Finance think tank. Read more

A better focus for the former prime minister than fending off Brookfield’s ~$30bn of decarbonisation capital that comes with its bid for gentailer Origin would be using his influence to press for reform of the short-term performance test benchmarks that penalise the superannuation industry for investments in future facing, low carbon industries. Read more

The renewable energy pledge was welcomed by climate campaigners and analysts. Tim Buckley, director of the independent think tank Clean Energy Finance, said it was excellent to see Australia backing the commitment. He said falling costs had made the transition to renewables “an entirely economically sensible and viable commitment”. Read more

Climate Energy Finance said the commitment at COP28 by over 100 countries to triple renewables by 2030 – particularly Australia, US, EU, Canada and Japan – was “excellent”. “Two years ago this would have been seen as next to impossible,” director Tim Buckley said in a statement. “But with China having transformed the world’s (manufacturing) capability to deliver on decarbonisation, this goal will collectively bend the climate trajectory towards what the science clearly dictates.” Read more

Wholesale prices of electricity are down about 50 per cent in the 2023 calendar year, relative to 2022, because the “hyperinflation of gas and coal commodity prices internationally over 2022 has now in 2023 progressively come off [more than] 70 per cent from their peak”, according to Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley. The government is being transparent about this, in sharp contrast to Angus Taylor, who, as energy minister in the Morrison government, sat on the relevant report predicting significant price increases in the run-up to the last election. Read more

Our Chinese energy SOEs report by Xuyang Dong mentioned in Australia Financial News – An Australia-based Chinese-language news outlet. Read more

Demand for Australian coal from the nation’s biggest customer is heading for long-term decline as China changes course on energy investment, research shows. According to a report released on Thursday by independent think tank Climate Energy Finance, Australia must urgently respond and pursue new partnerships with China to replace jobs. Lead author of the report, Xuyang Dong tracked the investment trends of China’s top five enterprises, which she said pointed to the possibility of the superpower exceeding its energy goals. Read more

China has vaulted ahead of the rest of the world in solar and wind power installations in 2023, accelerating the energy transition for Australia’s biggest export customer and posing a growing threat to future coal exports. “China’s demand for Australian exports of thermal and coking coal is set to decline structurally over the longer term due to the greening of China’s power sector and economy,” said Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley. “The report recommends that to minimise economic risk, Australia urgently comprehends and responds at speed to align with China’s massive investment pivot.” Read more