Our work

Our latest take on the federal government’s overhaul of a centrepiece climate policy- the Safeguard Mechanism. Yes, it is imperfect. The unlimited use of offsets particularly problematic and they should be a last resort. However, it is a massive win – and opportunity – in that it provides the critical policy architecture for a permanent, high price on carbon, incentivising decarbonisation and investment in clean tech, and it must be understood in the context of the government’s ecosystem of major policy reforms that collectively make significant headway after a devastating decade of LNP policy failure. Read more

A new study in Nature Energy released overnight quantifies the devastating toll of global energy price hyperinflation, with household energy costs spiking up to 113% in 2022.The report said the price crisis could push up to 141 million people into extreme poverty. Meanwhile, as Tim Buckley notes in this analysis, fossil fuel multinationals have extracted massive war superprofits, bringing to the fore again the case for proper taxation of these corporates. Read more

CEF’s comprehensive summation of the critical minerals opportunity for Australia including a response to the federal consultation’s Terms of Reference and key policy recommendations. Read more

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

The foundational premise of CEF is that financial markets are phenomenally powerful, but they need an explicit, high, permanent price on carbon to drive the rapid decarbonisation pathway required to ensure alignment with 1.5°C, which was made politically toxic by the previous government. In our view, the SGM reforms by the Albanese government could be strengthened, but create a credible framework to re-establish a price on carbon emissions in Australia. Read more

CEF’s submission to the NSW government on the proposed Winterbourne Wind Farm in the New England region. The project is expected to generate approximately 2,100,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year of clean, renewable energy — enough to power more than 375,000 average NSW homes for a year. Read more

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

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

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

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

Having moved decisively with an energy price relief plan that addresses the worst of the gas cartel’s market failure, Energy Minister Chris Bowen is again moving at speed on the energy transition, with 8 major new battery developments that will accelerate the deployment of much needed storage for grid firming capacity by 2025, attract close to $3 billion in private capital and add 2GW of capacity. Read more

An historic week saw the federal govt legislate coal and gas price caps and bill rebates under its energy price relief plan, with an additional commitment to electrify everything, and a staggering endorsement from the market as prices on the electricity futures market dropped 50%. We also look at progress on decarbonisation in India, finding a doubling of RE installs rate is needed to hit Modi’s target of 450GW by 2030. Read more