Reports and Analysis
Further reflections on Adani and the Hindenburg Report
Tim Buckley with some further reflections on the Adani crisis, noting the allegations from Hindenburg are not going to go away. For its part, Hindenburg is very comfortable with its legal position. They have effectively issued an open invitation to Adani to sue if they want to experience discovery. That challenge from Wall Street gives credibility to the substance of the report. Read more
CEF NEWS UPDATE | Adani v Hindenburg, Safeguard Mechanism, Climate Capital Forum policy roadmap & more
Is Adani a corporate Hindenburg? – our reflections on the explosive report; Safeguard Mechanism progresses; the new Climate Capital Forum launches its policy roadmap to decarbonisation; AEMO dynamics report shows acceleration of RE and decline of coal and gas in the grid; our submission to the federal critical minerals consultation and more Read more
There are some useful lessons for the Adani saga from the collapse of Wirecard in Germany
Tim Buckley notes there are striking parallels between the origins of the collapse of Germany company Wirecard under the weight of the biggest corporate fraud in that country in decades, and the Adani crisis triggered by the Hindenburg report, including the failures of regulatory scrutiny. While Wirecard went bankrupt when its corporate wrongdoing was finally exposed, the Adani allegations are as yet unproven, and require close examination by the US SEC and Securities and Exchange Board of India. Read more
Adani Group: A corporate Hindenburg?
Tim Buckley has been a keen watcher of Adani for over a decade. Read his full analysis of the explosive allegations by US based research firm and activist short seller Hindenburg that the conglomerate has engaged in the “largest con in corporate history” involving accounting fraud, insider trading, and money laundering. Do the allegations stack up, what needs to be done, and what are the implications for Australia and Adani’s Carmichael coal mine, the subject of a massive decade long grassroots campaign that deprived the company of its social licence here. Read more
Heading in the right direction for energy transformation
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
CEF NEWS UPDATE | Safeguard Mechanism & carbon credits review; gas cartel doth protest too much
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
The Safeguard Mechanism and ACCU reforms
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
ANALYSIS | Embodied decarbonisation: How critical minerals, mining and manufacturing majors are transitioning to clean energy
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
CBA FY2022 Full Year Results | Climate Finance Assessment
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
Cooking with gas on the nose as health concerns mount and governments act
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
CEF NEWS UPDATE | Hope restored as clean energy momentum escalates – our 2022 wrap
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
Westpac FY2022 Full Year Results | Climate Finance Assessment
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