ESG Snapshot: Issue 110

This week's highlights include:

• 'We want to bring the world with us'. In a speech to the UN climate summit, the Prime Minister spoke of new sources of regional prosperity.
• 'Huge potential'. Resources Minister Madeleine King has praised cooperation between Australia and Japan on carbon capture and storage.
• Disinformation. A Senate inquiry into climate and energy information integrity is holding hearings today and tomorrow.
• Safeguard implications. Australia's new 2035 emissions reduction target has ramifications for the Safeguard decline rate, says the IGCC.
• SBTi pause. Fortescue has paused efforts to validate its emissions reductions target due to the review of the SBTi validation framework (company news).
• ACCC tick. The ACCC intends approving a South Australian electricity buying group that has members including Orora and Adchem.
• REZ hearing. Transcript from the latest hearing of a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the impact of renewable energy zones is now available.
• Water security. Victoria's options for ensuring longer term water security include a greater reliance on desalination.

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"This is the decisive decade for acting on the environmental challenge of climate change – and seizing the economic opportunities of clean energy," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told the UN General Assembly.

"Just as our traditional resources have helped power the extraordinary economic transformation of our region, our renewables can underpin new prosperity for the growing economies of the Indo-Pacific," the Prime Minister said.

"Our Pacific family is partnering with us in our bid to host COP 31," Albanese said. "We want to bring the world with us on climate change."

"Not by asking any nation to forego the jobs or security its people deserve. But by working with every nation to seize and share those opportunities."

"Australia has huge potential for CCS," Resources Minister Madeleine King has said in a speech delivered in Japan.

"We have the right geological formations, the right infrastructure, and the right skills to be at the forefront of CCS and to help our regional partners in their own decarbonisation journeys," the Minister said.

"Crucially, Japanese and Australian firms are also collaborating and sharing knowledge to create real value chains," she said.

"INPEX and Chubu Electric Power are jointly studying a Nagoya to Australia CCS value chain that would capture CO₂ around the Port of Nagoya and ship it to the Bonaparte Basin."

"Woodside Energy has signed an MOU with Sumitomo Corporation, Toho Gas and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha assessing a similar Japan-Australia CCS corridor for the Chūbu region."

"And one of those 10 storage assessment permits I granted last year went to J POWER, which is working with Australian companies deepC Store and Azuli International to progress floating storage and injection concepts that could aggregate CO₂ volumes from Japan."

"That is bilateral cooperation in action," the Minister said.

A Senate committee inquiry into climate and energy information integrity will hold public hearings today and tomorrow.

Those appearing before the hearing include representatives of InfluenceMap, Climate Action Against Disinformation, and the Climate and Development Lab. The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner will also give evidence.

A Senate committee inquiry into climate risk assessment has released the transcript of a recent hearing.

The federal government has awarded climate-smart agriculture grants totalling $16 million for 10 projects.

Grants include $2.9 million to Sheep Producers Australia, $1.8 million to Ricegrowers Ltd, and $2.7 million to Soils for Life.

Grant opportunity - industrial decarbonisation. ARENA has invited expressions of interest from regional industrial facilities for funding under through the third round of its Industrial Transformation Stream, with a total of $180 million on offer.

The funding round has two streams - one focused on innovative technologies that have not been tried before and could deliver major impact, and the other on accelerating existing technologies.

The funding round can support projects ranging from feasibility studies and front-end engineering and design (FEED), to trials, demonstrations and deployment. 

Meanwhile, ARENA is also inviting expressions of interest for grants under its Advancing Renewables Program for community electrification demonstration projects.

Consultation opportunity - Net Zero Fund. The federal government is consulting on the proposed design of its new $5 billion Net Zero Fund. Comments are due by 15 October.

The Australian Conservation Foundation is filing nature-related shareholder resolutions for consideration at the annual general meetings of NAB and the ANZ, calling on the banks to disclose their exposure to deforestation and to adopt strong no-deforestation policies.

Consultation opportunity - offshore decommissioning. The federal government is consulting on progress by the Offshore Decommissioning Directorate in implementing Australia's offshore resources decommissioning roadmap.

Comments are due by 24 October.

Public submissions are now available to the federal government's gas market review consultation.

The government's 2035 target range has implications for the average annual decline rate under the Safeguard Mechanism, which currently stands at 4.9% annually, says the Investor Group on Climate Change.

"Due to the target range, baseline reductions from 2030 onwards will be harder for industry to forecast until the Safeguard review is complete," the IGCC says.

A 62% NDC is an indicative 4.82% decline rate, a 65% NDC is an indicative 5.5% decline rate and a 70% NDC is an indicative 6.85% decline rate," the IGCC says.  

EPBC developments:

• INPEX has made an EPBC referral for a CO2 compression and export system at its Bladin Point LNG facility near Darwin, which would improve the site's capacity to separate CO2 for compression, export, and storage.
• The federal government has approved its 100th renewable energy project since taking office - Edify's Nowingi 360MW solar farm nearMildura in Victoria.
• The federal government has approved ACEN's 943MW Valley of Winds wind farm in NSW's central west, after assessment in conjunction with the NSW government.
• The federal government has approved the 134MW Garoo solar farm, south of Tamworth, and an associated battery system.
• ACE Power (now part of TagEnergy) has made an EPBC referral for a 140MW solar farm and associated battery system near Narrabri, NSW.

Out now! A 'Track Changes' panel-pod on climate disinformation and misinformation (on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube).

Coexistence Queensland has released a report on 'Leveraging the lessons from the development of the Queensland onshore gas industry'.

The report, prepared by the University of Queensland Gas and Energy Transition Research Centre, examines gas industry efforts to ensure successful coexistence in regional areas, and discusses the applicability of these efforts to new energy and resource projects.

A parliamentary inquiry into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities conducted a public hearing last Friday in Singleton.

Those giving evidence included representatives of local councils, Ausgrid, Transgrid, and the Hunter Jobs Alliance.

Transcript of a recent parliamentary inquiry into modern slavery risks in regional NSW is now available.

The NSW government has completed a $1.3 million clean-up of a former industrial site in Young, removing more than 2,500 containers of PCB-contaminated material.

The government contracted Enviropacific to remove about 125,000 litres of liquid waste oils and 120 tonnes of solid PCB waste to licensed waste management facilities for safe disposal.

The NSW government has tabled in Parliament a report by the NSW DCCEEW on creating employment and supporting industry renewable energy in NSW.

The NSW government has awarded a $2 million grant to Solidcast, to boost production of low-carbon concrete panels for use in housing and other projects.

The NSW government has announced five successful recipients of grants under the first round of the First Nations Fund, which ensures renewable energy projects connecting to the Central West-Orana REZ provide meaningful opportunities for Aboriginal people and communities.

Grant applications are now being accepted under the second round, with $4 million available.

ACT Senator David Pocock has hosted a roundtable at Parliament House advance a community-led proposal to protect the Western Edge of Canberra.

ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury has criticised plans by Indara Communications to build a telecommunications tower in threatened grasslands.

The state government has released a new Water Security Plan that examines options to cater for future water demand across Melbourne, Geelong and connected regions.

Over the past 27 years, inflows into Melbourne’s major water storages have declined by 17%, and the new plan involves investigations to look at ways to boost available water supply, and help make the state less dependent on rainfall.

The plan notes that the existing Victorian Desalination Plant can be expanded from its current capacity of 150 GL to produce a further 50 GL of water a year.

Statutory development - VEU scheme. The state government has gazetted the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Amendment (Commercial and Industrial Solar, High Efficiency Motors and Other Matters) Regulations 2025.

Grant opportunity - climate change. Grants of between $25,000 and $100,000 are on offer to small- and medium-sized businesses under the state government's Climate Change Business Innovation grants program. Applications close on 17 November.

The ACCC has proposed granting authorisation for the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy Inc (SACOME) and its participating members to form a joint electricity buying group.

Initial participants include Adchem, Orora, Woodland, IGA, and Nippy's. The membership will expand, but SACOME has undertaken that the group will not exceed 5% of the total annual electricity supply in South Australia's NEM, 1% of the total supply in the NEM, and 1% of the total supply in the WA or NT markets.

The South Australian government has released the public consultation summary report for its review of the state's container deposit scheme.

The WA EPA has recommended approval of marine infrastructure upgrades proposed by the Mid West Ports Authority at the Port of Geraldton.

The City of Stirling - Western Australia's most populous local government area - has decided to start a a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) trial.

"The City's decision to participate is another step towards FOGO being a permanent part of how we all deal with our household waste in the Perth and Peel regions," Environment Minister Matthew Swanbourn said.

Horizon Power has successfully completed a 12-month trial testing technology to facilitate two-way charging of electric vehicles.

The NT EPA has decided to amend and renew the environmental licence for Santos's Darwin LNG facility, located at Wickham Point.

New conditions include a requirement to prevent and manage fugitive methane emissions to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) and acceptable to the NT EPA.

New listings are in blue.

Videos on demand from Climate Week NYC are available here.

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research has released the 2025 Planetary Health Check.

Australian news items in all issues of ESG Snapshot can be searched by relevant Sustainable Development Goal category. To do this, click on the '17 SDGs' link at the top of this web page, or on any of the SDG keys below.

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