ESG Snapshot: Issue 55

This week's highlights include:

• SA SDAs. A draft SA Bill would make it quicker and easier to establish clean economy infrastructure, by establishing State Development Areas.
• Biodiversity methods. The federal government is taking the next step towards establishing a nature market.
• Carbon methods. An invitation to suggest new ACCU Scheme methods has prompted numerous suggestions.
• Built-in carbon. Infrastructure Australia has estimated the amount of embodied carbon in Australia's construction pipeline, and suggests ways to reduce it.
• Future inquiry. Submissions to a Senate inquiry into the Future Made in Australia bills are now available.
• Renewable fuels. The NSW government is canvassing views on ways to foster a renewable fuels industry, and on the merits of targets and mandates.
• New resources include a green iron study, a net zero for industry webinar, a Matt Kean podcast, and an EV take-up update.

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

DCCEEW has invited tenders to develop methods for earning biodiversity certificates under the auspices of the Nature Repair Act. The department anticipates initially contracting for the development of between two and four draft methods.

Tenders must be submitted by 5 September.

Consultation opportunity - EPBC bilateral agreement. DCCEEW is inviting comments on a draft EPBC bilateral agreement with South Australia.

Comments are due by 2 September. The previous assessment bilateral with South Australia is no longer operable.

Finance and climate change ministers from Australia and New Zealand have held a climate and finance dialogue. Ministers agreed to:

• review regulatory barriers to the net zero transformation, with an
  initial focus on batteries and electric vehicle charging.
• convene sector-based roundtables on the maritime sector to identify the conditions required for trans-Tasman green shipping corridors.
• investigate ways to develop a regional sustainable aviation fuel industry
• invite NZ aviation companies and representatives to join the Jet Zero Council.
• promote trans-Tasman regulatory alignment on net zero product certification.
• invest in long-term emissions reduction opportunities for agriculture.

Submissions to a Senate committee inquiry into the Future Made in Australia bills are now available. Submitters include:

• Fortescue, which is "concerned that without the Australian government, WA government and industry uniting to develop a focused and funded green iron plan for the Pilbara, the nation runs the risk of losing its long established and high earning place in the global steel supply chain".
• SunDrive Solar, which calls for stronger local content requirements.
• BHP, which calls for large-scale investment in supporting infrastructure, robust and streamlined permitting, "competitive taxation", and a renewed industry-government effort to alleviate skills shortages.

Transcript and opening statements from a recent hearing of the Senate committee inquiry into the Nature Positive Bills are now available.

Those giving evidence included Professor Graeme Samuel, representatives of environment and clean energy groups, and Dr Ken Henry.

Consultation opportunity - house rating scheme expansion. DCCEEW is consulting on a proposed expansion of the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) to include energy assessments and ratings for existing homes.

NatHERS is currently only used to assess new homes, and the expanded version is expected to launch in mid-2025. Webinars will be held over the next few weeks, and comments are due by 30 August.

The expanded NatHERS scheme could underpin the introduction of point of sale or lease disclosure regimes.

The first Expression of Interest round for new ACCU Scheme methods, which ran from 21 May 2024 to 12 July, resulted in 39 EOIs being submitted, according to DCCEEW. 

More information about the EOIs will be released once Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen decides which of them to prioritise for development.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will loan Ampol $100 million to support EV charging, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, solar PV, and the development of low carbon liquid fuels.

Ampol expects the finance will enable it to deliver more than 200 new public fast charging bays across its service station network by 2025. It will also use some of the finance to support its renewable fuels programs

Meanwhile, the CEFC is also investing an additional $20 million to expand the electric vehicle fleet of Splend, which leases vehicles to drivers with rideshare services such as Uber.

The CEFC move builds on a $20 million initial investment made last June, which boosted the number of EVs in Splend’s fleet by 500 cars, "showing the strong demand for EVs among rideshare drivers", Climate Minister Chris Bowen said.

ARENA has awarded grants totalling more than $3.2 million to two solar projects. PV Lighthouse Pty Ltd has received $1.97 million to expand its SunSolve yield modelling software and Built Robotics Australia Pty Ltd received $1.3 million for its autonomous piling robots project.

Meanwhile, ARENA has also awarded $15 million to the Australian Energy Market Operator, to accelerate readiness for major power system changes and provide greater visibility to investors on emerging requirements and opportunities.

A Senate committee inquiry into waste and recycling policies will conduct a hearing today, with appearances from industry associations, environment and community groups, and waste and recycling companies.

A Senate Select Committee on Australia's Disaster Resilience is due to report on Thursday.

A House of Representatives committee inquiry into electric vehicles will conduct a hearing on 8 August.

The federal government has granted a greenhouse gas storage assessment permit to Pilot Energy (CH CCUS) Pty Ltd.

Pilot Energy is proposing the Cliff Head offshore CCS project, south of Geraldton. When operating, the project aims to annually store more than one million tonnes of CO2 – with first injection targeted for 2026.

Infrastructure Australia has released a report on Embodied carbon projections for Australian infrastructure and buildings, which establishes a baseline for the upfront embodied carbon in Australia's built environment.

The report forecasts that Australia's construction pipeline for buildings and infrastructure will produce between 37Mt and 64Mt of greenhouse in upfront embodied carbon each year for the five years to 2026-27, equating to a total of 247Mt of CO₂e over the period. 

The report says that close to a quarter of these emissions (23%) can be abated by employing practical decarbonisation strategies by 2026-2027. Infrastructure Australia recommends that the federal government:

• develop a comprehensive national plan to promote the decarbonisation of embodied carbon in the built environment.  
• build confidence and literacy to enable the uptake of low carbon products and solutions. 
• develop a nationally standardised embodied carbon measurement system.   
• implement a common national approach to drive market demand for low carbon solutions.  
• develop new methods for project delivery, which share risks and rewards for innovative approaches.   
• work with industry to drive national alignment on low-carbon expectations, through performance-based standards and specifications.

The Business Council of Australia has released four submissions on climate change matters - dealing with the transport and infrastructure net-zero plan, the coal orderly exit draft Bill, sustainability collaborations and competition law, and low-carbon liquid fuels.

Meanwhile, the Clean Energy Council has released submissions on unlocking Australia's green minerals processing and metals refining, the Future Made in Australia Bill, and Victoria's proposed minimum standards for rental accommodation.

DCCEEW has released a report to the National Water Reform Committee on a proposed continuous improvement program for water quality strategies and guidelines.

DCCEEW has also released guidelines for assessing and managing impacts on underwater cultural heritage.

Resources:

• WWF has released a report on Australia's green iron key: unlocking Asia's steel decarbonisation, securing Australia's economic future.
• The Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity has released the recording of a recent webinar on Helping commercial and industrial businesses get to net zero.
• The Energy Efficiency Council has released a First Fuel podcast interview with former NSW energy minister Matt Kean, who took up the reins as Chair of the Climate Change Authority last Thursday. The interview is available here.
• DCCEEW has released an annual update on its electric vehicle strategy, which shows EV sales represented 9.4% of new vehicles sales by the end of April 2024, compared to 3.8% in 2022.

The state government has announced the members of its new, advisory Clean Economy Expert Panel.

The panel will be chaired by Professor Frank Jotzo, and other members include Professor Kerrie Wilson, Monica Richter, Kylie Porter, Dr Andrew Ash, and Professor Neville Plint.

The state government has released a methodology for calculating the proportion of electricity generated in Queensland that comes from renewables sources.

Queensland's new Energy (Renewable Transformation and Jobs) Act requires that the government publish the methodology, as well as an annual statement on progress towards achieving the state's renewable energy targets.

New data shows more than 2,750 new jobs have been created across Queensland's six publicly owned energy businesses alone in less than two years, according to the state government.

Employment figures from Powerlink, Energy Queensland, Stanwell, CleanCo, CS Energy and Queensland Hydro show a 28% rise in full-time-equivalent staff between November 2022 and 30 June 2024, up from 9,792 to 12,562.

Consultation opportunity - renewable fuels. The state government has released a report on Opportunities for a renewable fuel industry in NSW, which asks about the merits of targets and mandates. Comments are due by 30 August.

Grant opportunity - plastics. The NSW EPA is inviting applications for funding through its Plastics Research Program, with grants of between $250,000 and $500,000 on offer. Applications close on 5 September.

The ACT government has awarded a $750,000 grant to New Frontier Technologies to develop an innovative storage solution for hydrogen.

It has also provided $300,000 to RenewMap to support the further development of its web platform, which maps energy projects across Australia and New Zealand.

Statutory development - a safe climate. Greens MLC Sarah Mansfield has introduced the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Amendment (Right to a Safe Climate) Bill.

The 312MW Wimmera Plains wind farm and 100MW/400MWh battery energy storage system, to be built near Horsham, has received EPBC approval.

In the first round of its Solar for Apartments program, co-funded by the federal and state governments, Solar Victoria received 438 applications from owners' corporations for 12,000 kilowatts of solar capacity, which would service more than 5,000 apartments. Applications for round two will open later this month.

Open consultations:

• Renewables and the grid. VicGrid has released draft Victorian transmission plan guidelines and a renewable energy zone study area map, with comments due by 25 August.

Statutory development and consultation opportunity - planning for decarbonisation. The Department of the Premier and Cabinet has released a draft State Development Coordination and Facilitation Bill, designed to ensure the regulatory and planning system is fit-for-purpose for the net-zero transition.

The Bill provides for "state development areas" (SDAs) that would be proactively assessed by regulators as environmentally and economically suitable for key developments.

SDAs could take the form of infrastructure corridors, green manufacturing hubs, port- industrial zones, or common-user infrastructure areas.

The Bill will also establish a one-stop-shop state government assessment and approvals pathway for major and complex projects. Comments are due by 31 August.

The NT Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet has released an updated NT Gas Plan to 2030, which focuses on economic, energy security, and environmental aspects.

"The integration of natural gas, solar and CCS will be vital in achieving
domestic and regional emissions targets," the plan says.

The plan signals the development of CCS legislation for the Territory, to facilitate the development of a CCS industry servicing Australian and international customers.

The NT government has released a Water Demand Management Strategy to reduce water demand across 16 government agencies.

The new strategy will initially focus on water use in the greater Darwin region, before being expanded across the Territory.

The NT government aims to reduce agency water use by 20% by 2027-28

The NT government has awarded a $1.2 million grant to Ostojic Group to purchase new crushing and screening technology to develop recycled road base and construction materials.

It has also provided a $275,000 grant to Remote Industries Australia Pty Ltd to establish a concrete recycling facility in Tennant Creek.

Lithium producer Albemarle has scaled back the development of its Kemerton (WA) lithium processing site, halting construction of the site's third processing train, and putting train 2 in care and maintenance.

Ampol, GrainCorp and IFM Investors have signed an MoU to jointly examine the feasibility of establishing a renewable fuels facility at Ampol's Lytton refinery site in Brisbane.  The facility would produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel and renewable diesel from feedstock supplied by GrainCorp.

The Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility has disengaged from lengthy discussions with Rio Tinto on improving its climate-related advocacy, following revelations that the company is lobbying against including a climate trigger in the EPBC Act. ACCR has also published a new analysis of Woodside.

Broadcaster SBS has signed a 10-year renewable energy power purchase agreement with Zen Energy, which will supply SBS with Large-scale Generation Certificates equivalent to 100% of the broadcaster's electricity needs. The LGCs will be linked to RAC's 226.8MW Collector wind farm. ZEN earlier this year signed a 10-year offtake agreement with RAC, which entitles it to 20.6% of the generation and LGCs from the Collector wind farm.

The World Bank has released a global gas flaring tracker report, which shows that in 2023 global gas flaring at upstream oil and gas facilities increased by 7% to 9 billion cubic metres. This flared gas would have had a market value of between $9 billion and $48 billion, and eliminating the flaring would have averted the release of at least 381 million tonnes of greenhouse gas, the World Bank said.

Meanwhile, data collected by MethaneAIR, a specially equipped jet aircraft, has shown US oil and natural gas producers are emitting methane into the atmosphere at over four times the rates estimated by the US EPA. MethaneAIR uses similar technology to MethaneSAT, a satellite developed by the Environmental Defense Fund, which is scheduled to start delivering public data later this year.

The Science-Based Targets initiative has released several issues papers as part of a review of its Corporate Net Zero Standard, several of which discuss the role of carbon credits.

The Singapore Economic Development Board and the International Emissions Trading Association have formed the Singapore Carbon Market Alliance, which aims to bring together buyers and sellers of carbon credits that are aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative has released its latest annual target disclosures report.

A new series of online training sessions for hospitality businesses, focusing on community engagement, energy and greenhouse gases, as well as food and water management, has been developed by Booking.com in collaboration with UN Tourism.

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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