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The now six-week-long conflict in the Middle East continues, massively disrupting global energy supplies with no end in sight. This underscores the energy security risk to Australia of its extreme dependency on imported oil and resulting exposure to international fossil fuel shocks in an increasingly geopolitically unstable world. The significant implications for national economic resilience are already apparent, with a fuel supply crunch and elevated foreign oil prices driving a cost of living crisis, inflationary pressures and surging interest rates here. At the time of writing, the Hormuz Strait, the critical chokepoint for 20 per cent of the world’s oil, including the Asian supply chains we rely on, remains blocked. Read more

The widening conflict in the Gulf has exposed Australia’s extreme reliance on imported oil. With minimal fuel reserves and a $12 billion annual diesel subsidy to mining, energy security has become a national security emergency. The last several days have underscored the existential risk Australia runs by remaining addicted to imported fossil fuels. On 28 February, the US and Israel launched a preemptive war against Iran. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. The conflict is now widening regionally, impacting energy markets worldwide. Yet the Australian government provides a $12 billion annual subsidy to keep us addicted to imported diesel, undermining our clean energy-powered Future Made In Australia, energy security and decarbonisation objectives. Read more

The idea that the state purse might receive a higher rate when prices surge is particularly sensitive for coalminers because they are in a sector that may not have many booms left. “Structural decline in one of Australia’s largest fossil fuel export commodities coupled with rising unit costs are the factors driving these investment and operating decisions, not Queensland’s nation-leading royalty scheme,” says Matt Pollard, an analyst at clean energy consultancy Climate Energy Finance. Read more

Climate Energy Finance Director Tim Buckley has called for reform of Australia’s diesel fuel subsidy. This comes as business groups have expressed concern following Labor’s economic reform roundtable. “What we have called for is a $50 million per company, per annum cap to the diesel fuel rebate,” Mr Buckley told Sky News Australia. “Not one farmer, not one truck driver, not one small or medium-sized enterprise will be affected; it only affects the 15 largest mining companies in Australia.” Read more

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 more than $13 billion a year by decade’s end. Republished from Renew Economy 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

Have Australian CBAM enthusiasts been dreaming too small? Is an Asian CBAM the secret sauce for clean trade in our region? Have Frankie and Luke now read enough CBAM papers to level up and get a CBAM merit badge? Tennant licks his lips as your intrepid hosts devour a new report from Climate Energy Finance, ‘A Price On Carbon: Building Towards an Asian CBAM’. While this wasn’t necessarily the CBAM paper we were looking for, authors Matt Pollard and Tim Buckley make carbon pricing padawans of us all – and maybe all those DFAT folks who need to use the force to sell this idea – and give us the basic commands for a future Asian CBAM 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

Australia could miss out on $70 billion a year in export revenue if it does not pivot quickly enough to “green iron” as countries like China decarbonise their supply chains, a new report claims. By becoming a world leader in green iron, Australia could double its export revenue to $250 billion, according to the Climate Energy Finance (CEF) think tank. Read more