Our work

Public discourse on national security in Australia is evolving, while geopolitics and sovereign security are inarguably important, Australian society also cares about the economy and issues such as resilience in the face of the impacts of the climate and energy crisis. Diversifying Australia’s security strategy to encompass these concerns is an urgent matter because China is no longer the only, or major, threat to the world – or to Australia. Climate change and the energy crisis are clearly endangering Australia’s national interests now, and require more nuanced conversations to tackle. Read more

This week saw Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers make the call to back the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) recommendation to reject a Chinese-linked fund’s increased equity stake in an emerging Australian critical minerals developer, Northern Minerals, which is set to mine the rare earth dysprosium, used as an additive in neodymium magnets for electric vehicle motors. We look at the geopolitical implications of this move in the context of China’s global dominance on all things decarbonisation and responses by our trading partners. Read more

With COP27 underway, the idea of developed countries supporting developing countries with more than just talk has already backslid from “compensation” to the more nebulous political speak of “cooperation and facilitation”. However, trends in the electricity sector in China and India are showing significant promise, and speak more meaningfully than watered-down global promises. Read more

As Tim Buckley writes, China is leading the world by scaling up zero emissions industries of the future – RE, hydro power, smart grid integration, batteries, EVs, and most recently green hydrogen. In line with President Xi Jinping’s ‘Net Zero Emissions before 2060’ pledge, enormous progress has been made, but with climate impacts accelerating, ambition needs to be lifted. Read more