ESG Snapshot: Issue 106

This week's highlights include:

• Grid Bill clears Upper House. Victoria's Upper House has passed a Bill that takes responsibility for grid planning away from AEMO.
• CCS Bill. A Queensland Bill would give Glencore a new option for decommissioning wells linked to a CCS project that didn't proceed.
• No half measures. Only half Australia's infrastructure workforce does net zero-related work, and that needs to change, says Infrastructure Australia.
• 'Curtains' for cuttlefish. Algae-impeding air bubble 'curtains' will be trialed to protect giant cuttlefish breeding grounds in the Upper Spencer Gulf.
• Refiners seek standard. Suppliers of petrol, diesel and jet fuel want a California-style standard to foster the use of low-carbon liquid fuels.
• ACCC ticks bulk buy plan. The ACCC has issued a draft approval for five clean energy bulk buy groups.
• Recovery fail. Queensland is way off course in efforts to divert household waste from landfill, says a new report from the state's Audit Office.
• New sustainability reports. Woolworths says its sustainability actions have had a $2.6 billion social benefit, while Fortescue has also reported.
• 'Where it matters most'. The COP30 Presidency has an urgent message for the private sector (international news).

ESG Snapshot - powered by the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia and curated by ESG communications and content consultancy Earthed.

The federal government has tabled the report of an independent review of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).

The report recommends that the government implement a recycled loan funding model for the NAIF, "while accepting that there will be a need, at a point in the future, to provide the NAIF with additional capital".

Despite NAIF's efforts, the review concludes it can do much more to support First Nations economic empowerment.

It recommends that the government direct NAIF to set aside a proportion of funds to support First Nations-owned and led projects, and projects with significant First Nations financial equity. It also recommends the establishment of a First Nations Economic Reference Group.

The report also recommends that:

• The government amend the NAIF Act to protect NAIF Investment Decisions from legal challenge.
• The government amend legislation so NAIF can offer loans for general corporate purposes, and make equity investments.
• The NAIF redefine its public benefit criteria and expand its current assessment and evaluation methodology "to better encompass social, environmental and cultural project value".

"The Panel heard, almost unanimously, that the NAIF plays an invaluable role that is not currently replicated by any other institution or financial model. Stakeholders see the NAIF as 'part of the northern Australian ecosystem' and consider it necessary to the north’s future prosperity," the report says.

Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia has launched a new inquiry into the expansion and development of airports and seaports in Northern Australia.

Terms of reference include the transition to net zero and furthering renewable energy, decarbonisation and carbon abatement, the development of the critical minerals industry, and supporting the decommissioning industry.

The ACCC has issued a draft determination proposing to allow the Battery Stewardship Council, to continue to operate its scheme for end-of-life batteries, but with improved levy-setting and fee-payment arrangements.

"We acknowledge the Scheme’s low collection rate to date, particularly due to its voluntary nature, and recognise the opportunity for better collection outcomes with states moving towards mandatory stewardship frameworks and as consumer awareness and behaviour continues to change," ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

Keogh noted that efforts are underway to introduce separate, mandatory arrangements for end-of-life batteries, but said authorisation of the BSC's voluntary scheme wouldn't delay or impede these.

The ACCC has issued a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation to 1Circle Pty Ltd to establish and manage five more Business Renewable Energy Buying Groups (BRBG) of commercial energy consumers over 2025 to 2029.

The BRBG members are likely to come from industries including healthcare, manufacturing, education, property services, transport, agriculture, food processing, waste management, banking and finance, and the not-for-profit sector.

All members will be required to have at least one medium to large electricity supply point in Victoria, although they may also operate in other states.

The BRBG contracts will be standard electricity agreements with a retailer that have fixed price LGCs included to match the electricity consumed by members.

1Circle has stated that the combined annual energy consumption of each BRBG won't exceed 500GWh of electricity.

1Circle gained authorisation in March 2023 for its first BRBG, and was involved in a second one that included various Mercy Health facilities.

Infrastructure Australia has issued a new Delivering Net Zero Infrastructure: Workforce Report, which identifies workforce requirements for net zero infrastructure projects.

"With only half of the current infrastructure workforce contributing to net zero outcomes, there is significant opportunity to extend awareness and responsibility of decarbonisation efforts across the rest of the workforce," the report says.

The report also recommends the development of a carbon management fundamentals program for infrastructure professionals and leaders.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced an additional $1 billion in funding for the Regional Investment Corporation.

The government will also expand the RIC's loan scope to include assistance for improving climate resilience, boosting sector productivity, and supporting agriculture to be part of Australia’s net zero transition, the PM said.

"This will ensure the RIC can continue to support farm businesses in hardship, including those managing through and recovering from current drought conditions," he said.

"We're told we're an anxious generation, but we live with the ever-present threat of climate change," Australia's youngest-ever Senator has told Parliament in her first speech.

"It's clear to almost all young Australians that you've got to be working hard on closing your eyes to convince yourself that climate change isn't a threat, yet some still do," Labor Senator Charlotte Walker said.

"I can't imagine how they look at the catastrophic weather events, the fires and floods we're experiencing, and say to themselves, 'Nothing to see here.'," Senator Walker said.

"I can't imagine them standing on the street in Lismore, with boarded-up houses from flood damage, and telling those residents, 'Nothing to see here.' I challenge them to visit the World Heritage Ningaloo Reef, which has just had its first-ever widespread bleaching event from a hot ocean, and say, 'Nothing to see here; no need to reduce emissions'."

"In 2050 I won't be in my late 90s, like some who want to abandon net zero; my friends and I will be in our 40s, and we demand an inhabitable planet," the Senator said.

"Last year, Australia accounted for a fifth of global LNG trade," Resources Minister Madeleine King has told a meeting with the Australian Industry Group.

"So, it is of vital importance that more people understand that Australian LNG is critical to our regional trading partners’ decarbonisation," the Minister said. "This is why the Future Gas Strategy affirmed Australia's commitment to remaining a reliable trading partner for energy, including LNG."

The federal government has opened two new Capacity Investment Scheme tenders for Western Australia.

CIS Tender 5 aims to deliver 1,600MW of renewable generation, and CIS Tender 6 aims to deliver 2,400MWh of dispatchable capacity.

Bidding closes on 7 November.

Meanwhile, the federal government has also offered another two preliminary feasibility licences for Western Australia's Bunbury offshore wind zone, after proponents Westward Wind and Bunbury Offshore Wind resolved an overlap issue.

These are in addition to a previous offer of a preliminary feasibility licence to Bunbury Offshore Wind for a separate project in the same zone.

The three proposed wind projects off the coast of Bunbury could generate a total of 4GW, enough to power around 2.7 million homes, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said.

A Senate select committee inquiry into PFAS has scheduled a public hearing for this Friday.

It will hear from representatives of DCCEEW, the Department of Health, the Department of Defence, the Department of Infrastructure, Airservices Australia, the NHMRC, and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand.

The federal government is now aiming to introduce comprehensive EPBC Act reform legislation before the end of the year, Environment Minister Murray Watt has confirmed.

The bill "will include a strong focus on removing duplication within the environmental approvals and assessments system, while introducing strong new national environmental standards", Watt said.

"The legislation will also deliver on the government's election commitment to establish a Federal Environmental Protection Agency, with consultation ongoing regarding its exact model," he said.

Watt added that DCCEEW will pilot the use of AI to simplify and speed-up assessments and approvals.

Statutory development - EPBC Act. The federal government has introduced the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Board of Management Functions) Bill 2025.

Assistant Climate Change Minister Josh Wilson told Parliament the Bill makes "a minor technical amendment" regarding the powers of the boards of the Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Booderee national parks.

These boards have majority Traditional Owner representation and each is currently chaired by a Traditional Owner.

Currently if a reserve management plan for any of these reserves expires, then the boards can no longer make decisions. The bill will allow the board to continue making decisions after a management plan expires, provided those decisions are consistent with the expired management plan. 

"This is a sensible change that will maintain the board's decision-making ability until a new management plan comes into effect," Wilson said.

The Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand says every opportunity to prevent nutrients from entering South Australia's marine environment should be investigated, in its submission to a Senate SA algal bloom inquiry.

The EIANZ submission says programs to expand the re-use of treated wastewater, instead of discharging it to marine waters, should be investigated.

It also urges the adoption of integrated aquaculture at Port Lincoln, "as tuna farms contribute by far the greatest load of nutrients to Spencer Gulf".

Under an integrated aquaculture approach, filter-feeding oysters and mussels would be cultivated near the tuna farms, to reduce particulate organic nutrients in marine waters.

In addition, there might be opportunities to remove dissolved nutrients from seawater at Port Lincoln by culturing the red macroalgae Asparagopsis near the tuna farms, it says.

"There is an expanding market for Asparagopsis as a dietary supplement for cattle feed to reduce the production of methane, which is one of the most potent greenhouse gases." 

In a response to the Productivity Commission's interim net zero report, the Australian Institute of Petroleum has urged the introduction of a low carbon fuel standard targeting emissions-intensity, to provide a demand-side stimulus for renewable liquid fuels.

It notes that similar standards operate in many overseas jurisdictions, including California (2011), British Columbia (2008), Oregon (2009), Washington State (2021) and New Mexico (legislated in 2024 with introduction scheduled for 2026).

An alliance of businesses has released an open letter urging Australia to adopt a 2035 target of a 75% emissions reduction.

Signatories include Fortescue, Unilever, Canva, Atlassian, Future Super, Lendlease, ZEN Energy, GreenCollar, Ironbark Sustainability, and Corporate Carbon.

An associated modelling report by Deloitte Access Economics concludes that, compared to Australia’s current trajectory, achieving a 75% target could unlock $370 billion in GDP over the next decade and support 70,000 new jobs over the same timeframe.

More than 50 organisations have signed an open letter to Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen urging the establishment of a network of 50 regional energy hubs to provide information and support to local communities that are "navigating renewable energy, from the small stuff to the big stuff".

Signatories include the Clean Energy Investor Group, the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Re-Alliance.

Open consultations:

• Offshore carbon capture and storage. DCCEEW is consulting on three offshore CCS guidance documents. Comments are due by 12 September.
• Net zero. Submissions on the Productivity Commission's draft report on clean energy and net zero are due by 15 September.
• National Electricity Market. The Nelson review of the NEM has released its draft report, with submissions due by 17 September.
• Transition planning. Treasury has released draft voluntary guidance on best practices for climate-related transition planning. Comments are due by 24 September.

Statutory development - CCS and bore water wells. The Queensland government has introduced a Bill which would allow greenhouse gas wells associated with a proposed CCS project that never eventuated to be converted to water bores.

Glencore-owned Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation (CTSCo) had proposed a major CCS project in Queensland, but it was blocked by a 2024 legislative ban on CCS projects in the Great Artesian Basin that was introduced by the former state government.

CTSCo must decommission and rehabilitate the wells within two years, and the Bill provides an alternative decommissioning pathway to plugging them.

The Bill has been referred to Parliament's Primary Industries and Resources Committee. 

The Queensland government has released a new Queensland-India Trade and Investment Strategy.

India is Queensland's largest coal export market, and the strategy says one of Queensland's opportunities is supporting India's continued need for traditional energy, as well as partnering with it on "commercially viable renewables".

Government initiatives will include "maintaining Queensland's position as a reliable long-term energy partner and stable supplier of high-quality coal and clean energy inputs".

The Queensland Audit Office has released a report on reducing organic household waste sent to landfill, based on an audit of three large South Easte Queensland councils.

Queensland is now a third of the way through its 10-year organics strategy and is not on track to achieve the interim household waste targets, the report says.

"The department has reported that the amount of household waste diverted from landfill has increased from 27% in 2022–23 to 28% in 2023–24. It remains well below the interim target, which aims to divert 55% of household waste from landfill by 2025."

Queensland has rolled out approximately half a million 'green lid' bins for household organic waste across the state, and all three audited councils use these bins to collect garden waste only, not food waste.

"Changes in the requirements for composting have created uncertainty for industry," the report says.

Concerns over PFAS contamination and odour are likely to have slowed investment in infrastructure such as composting facilities, it says.

"The department has recently adjusted its approach to managing PFAS in compost following a review of its PFAS limits. It will no longer impose limits on PFAS when issuing new approval conditions for composters or enforce limits on existing approvals," it says.

"Instead, the department will work collaboratively with the compost industry to develop guidance and undertake further monitoring to manage PFAS
risks."

"The department will need to closely monitor PFAS risks and ensure it balances any health and environmental risks against the need to promote industry growth."

The audit recommends an assessment to determine whether the targets in the Queensland Organics Strategy for 2022-2032 are achievable.

The NSW government has opened another reverse auction round to purchase biodiversity credits through the Biodiversity Credit Supply Fund.

Bids must be submitted by 17 September.

The NSW government has announced $2.9 million in new funding for training and jobs initiatives in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.

The Renewable Energy Skills Legacy Program will have four elements:

• An Industry School Partnerships program that will provideschool-based collaborations, careers learning and trade readiness courses.
• A Local Skills Coordinators program that will connect training providers, employers and jobseekers to employment opportunities.
• A Supporting Apprenticeships and Traineeships program that will increase the uptake of apprenticeships and traineeships with local employers.
• A Women in Renewables program.

The Central-West Orana REZ is expected to create around 5,000 construction jobs at its peak, and will provide ongoing employment for decades.

The NSW government has purchased an additional 151 electric buses, with total purchases now standing at 921 since the March 2023 election.

The NSW EPA has commenced legal proceedings against the NSW Forestry Corporation for alleged breaches of forestry and biodiversity laws in Tallaganda State Forest.

The EPA has filed 29 charges against FCNSW in the Land and Environment Court, alleging contravention of the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA), theForestry Act 2012, and the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.

The NSW government is offering resilience funding to homeowners in the Central West who were affected by the 2022 floods.

Residents who experienced any level of damage in the 2022 floods can apply for funding through the $40 million Resilient Homes Program, to protect their homes from future extreme weather. 

Funding can be used for actions including raising power points and appliances like outdoor air conditioning units and hot water systems, and installing water-resilient materials.

More than 240 applications have been received so far, and 180 home assessments have been.completed.

The Resilient Homes Program is jointly funded by the federal and state governments. The NSW Reconstruction Authority is also hosting a resilient homes expo in September.

To support homeowners and industry partners navigate the grants process and learn about resilient building measures, the Reconstruction Authority is hosting a Resilient Homes Expo on Wednesday 3 September 2025.

Open consultations:

• PFAS in biosolids. The NSW EPA is seeking feedback on proposed new rules regarding the application of biosolids to land, which are focused on PFAS testing and reporting. Comments close on 26 September.
• Climate change. The NSW EPA has released draft Climate Change Licensee Requirements and Mitigation Requirements, and draft sector-specific guidance for NSW coal mines. Comments are due by 7 October.

Statutory development - VicGrid. The Victorian government's VicGrid Stage 2 Bill has passed the Legislative Council, after amendments proposed by crossbenchers were supported by the government.

The Bill shifts responsibility for transmission network planning from the Australian Energy Market Operator to VicGrid, and gives VicGrid additional planning and access powers.

It also introduces a new framework for paying benefits to landholders, local communities, and Traditional Owners.

The amendments made in the Legislative Council tighten arrangements for accessing land without consent, and expand the REZ community energy fund so that it can support biodiversity research.

They also explicitly prevent funds from the REZ community energy fund being paid into the government's Consolidated Fund.

The Bill, which was opposed by the Coalition, will now return to the Legislative Assembly for its consideration of the amendments.

Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny has announced the approval of Woolnorth's 400MW Mt Fyans wind farm near Mortlake in western Victoria.

The wind farm is the third largest to be approved in Victoria over the last decade.

Woolnorth Renewables also owns three onshore wind farms in Tasmania, which generate around 10% of the state's electricity.

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has granted EPBC approval to ACEN Australia's $3 billion, 900MW Robbins Island wind farm in northwest Tasmania.

Approval conditions include provisions relating to protection of the Orange-bellied Parrot, Tasmanian Devil, Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle and migratory shorebirds.

The transmission line to connect the project to the grid is still undergoing assessment, with an approvals decision in 2026.

Welcoming the decision, ACEN said the Robbins Island wind project is "an exceptional resource generating 30% more power than the average Australian wind project of comparable size". 

The Bob Brown Foundation criticised the approval decision, warning that the project site is at the end of the East Asian Australian flyway.

The South Australian and federal governments will trial whether the use of a large air bubble curtain can protect tens of thousands of giant cuttlefish eggs and hatchlings from the toxic algal bloom.

The 200m by 100m air bubble curtain will be installed on the Cuttlefish Coast in the Upper Spencer Gulf to disrupt the movement of algae.

The bubbles are created using land-based generators and compressors to pump air through underwater feeder lines and tubing.

Air bubble curtains have never before been used in South Australia, but they have been successfully trialled in WA to protect kelp.

Alison Reeve, the Grattan Institute's energy and climate change program director, has delivered the Luxton Memorial Lecture at the University of Adelaide, with the theme of net zero - from ambition to action.

New listings are in blue.

The 6th Forum of Asia Pacific Ministers and Environment Authorities was held in Fiji last week, in the lead-up to the next meeting of the UN General Assembly.

"The private sector has already accelerated the transition in many significant ways, however, it  must now  step forward, not back," says a new open letter from COP30 President André Aranha Correa do Lago.

"The COP30 Presidency sees the private sector as a beneficiary of the climate transition, and an indispensable partner in driving its implementation," the letter says.

"As governments design NDCs that build resilience, drive sustainable development and  deliver  long-term shared, companies must be prepared to act as co-architects of this transformation and implementers of their intention."

"The transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy is now one of the greatest engines for innovation and growth in history," the letter says.

"In Belém, the private sector will have an unprecedented opportunity to lead the world forward with speed and scale. We are calling businesses to attend and engage through solutions, partnerships, investments, and ideas," it says.

We recognise that traveling to Belém presents logistical challenges, the letter acknowledges.

But conversations about climate leadership "must happen not only where it's easy, but where it matters most", it says. 

The European Commission's Director-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) has released three reports exploring the design of an EU-wide purchasing programme for permanent carbon dioxide removal.

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