ESG Snapshot: Issue 70

This week's highlights include:

• Coal Bill. A Bill that will establish national electricity market-wide rules on managing coal in the grid is now before South Australia's parliament.
• Storage Bill. The NSW parliament has passed a Bill establishing a new energy storage target.
• NT approvals Bill. The NT government has released a draft Territory Coordinator Bill to streamline approvals processes for major projects.
• Renewables planning. The NSW government has issued new planning guidance for renewable energy projects.
• Right to repair. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says introducing a 'right to repair' would bring significant benefits.
• ACCU review. A government advisory committee is considering changes to a method that allows ACCUs to be earned through alternative waste treatment.
• ACCC concerns. The ACCC has concerns about Cleanaway's plans to acquire another waste company.
• Plus, COP29 coverage (see international news).

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

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has signalled the development of a general right to repair, noting it could provide benefits of more than $400 million a year.

The Capacity Investment Scheme Tender 3 is now open. Tender 3 aims to provide revenue underwriting for 4GW of 4-hour equivalent dispatchable capacity in the National Electricity Market.

Projects with a minimum storage duration of two hours and a minimum size of 30 MW are expected to be eligible.

The government's independent Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (ERAC) is reviewing the ACCU Scheme's the Alternative Waste Treatment method for earning carbon credits.

The existing method encompasses the processing of waste by enclosed composting, anaerobic digestion, or the manufacture of process engineered fuel. Projects under the method have generated around 4.9 million ACCUs to date.

The existing version of the method, which reduces emissions by processing waste that would have gone to landfill, is due to expire on 31 March next year. Comments to ERAC are due by 2 December.

Meanwhile, ERAC is also seeking feedback by 26 November on a proposed variation to the wastewater ACCU method, which would extend the crediting period for non-biomethane projects from 7 years to 12 years.

The wastewater method focuses on capturing methane from treatment ponds.

The ACCC has published a Statement of Issues outlining its preliminary competition concerns about Cleanaway's proposed acquisition of the waste and recycling business of Citywide Service Solutions Pty Ltd.

Citywide Waste, currently owned by the City of Melbourne, offers collections services for municipal councils and commercial and industrial customers. 

"Our preliminary view is that the proposed acquisition would remove the close competitive tension between Cleanaway's and Citywide Waste's waste disposal facilities, particularly in the central and west regions of metropolitan Melbourne," the ACCC said.

The ACCC is seeking comments in response to the statement by 28 November.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has published the findings of its second climate risk survey of banks, insurers and super funds.

The survey found that, on average, larger entities have continued to improve their climate risk maturity, but broad variations remain.

The federal government is guaranteeing up to US$200 million (about A$300 million) worth of Asian Development Bank climate change lending, through the ADB's Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific.

Other countries supporting IF-CAP include the US, the UK, and Japan.

IF-CAP will ultimately support the ADB to deliver up to US$11 billion in climate-related loans, and boost private sector capital mobilisation.

Meanwhile, the federal government has also announced an additional $125 million investment in Pacific renewable energy projects.

The funding comprises a $75 million investment through the REnew Pacific program and $50 million through the Australia-Pacific Partnership for Energy Transition (APPET) program.

ARENA has announced a $1.7 million grant to support UNSW's $4.3 million Project CICCADA, which aims to better understand the integration of consumer energy resources (CER) into the National Energy Market. 

The project will analyse large real-world datasets from CER such as rooftop solar, household batteries and electric vehicles to help better understand integration challenges.  

Over 1,400 MW of new large-scale renewable energy generation projects, worth $3.3 billion in new investment, were committed in the third quarter of 2024, according to the Clean Energy Council’s latest Quarterly Renewables Report.

Meanwhile, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has said the nation is on track for a near record of 3.15GW of rooftop solar capacity to be added this year.

In early November, the Australian carbon market saw its second-highest weekly traded volumes on record, according to carbon and energy analyst Reputex.

As a result, generic ACCU prices rose above $40 for the first time in more than two years. Much of the activity is driven by demand from entities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.

Open consultations:

• Carbon market infrastructure. The Clean Energy Regulator is seeking feedback on its proposed exchange trading model for ACCUs, and its proposed new units and certificates registry. Comments are due by 22 November.
• The National Health and Medical Research Council has released draft revised drinking water guidelines, which contain revised health-based limits for four types of PFAS. Comments are due by 22 November.
• The Carbon Leakage Review second consultation paper is now available with comments due by 3 December.
• Energy efficiency. DCCEEW is inviting views on a Regulation Impact Statement on a proposal to impose stricter GEMS energy efficiency requirements on distribution transformers. Comments are due by 6 December.
• Sustainability reporting. ASIC has released a draft regulatory guide on Australia's new sustainability reporting regime. Comments are due by 19 December.
• PFAS. Submissions to a Senate select committee inquiry into PFAS are due by 19 December.

Award opportunity. Nominations are now being accepted for the 36th annual Banksia sustainability awards. Entries must be submitted by 6 December.

Twenty-six councils will share $13 million to support waste reduction and recycling initiatives through the state government's Let’s Get It Sorted Partnership Program.

The grant program is funded through the state's waste levy.

Statutory development - energy storage. Parliament has passed the Energy Amendment (Long Duration Storage and Investment) Bill 2024, which establish a new long-duration storage infrastructure objective of an additional 12GWh by 2034.

This is in addition to an existing objective of constructing a minimum of 16GWh of long-duration storage by 2030.

The state government has issued updated planning guidelines for renewable energy projects. Further details are available here.

Key changes include:
• a revision of setbacks for wind turbines.
• a revision of visual magnitude thresholds and viewpoint sensitivity levels to be consistent between development types.
• a requirement that proponents of transmission projects consider viable project options (including undergrounding) in their scoping report.
• the addition of a benefit-sharing rate for battery energy storage systems and guidance on how benefit-sharing rates should be distributed to communities.
• simplification of the private agreement guideline.

Some parts of the framework will apply immediately, while others are subject to transitional arrangements. The Clean Energy Council welcomed the updated guidelines.

The $4.8 billion HumeLink transmission project has been approved by the state government, and will now proceed to the Commonwealth Government for final approval.

The project will provide a 365km renewable energy infrastructure spine across southern NSW, connecting energy infrastructure including Snowy 2.0.

The Independent Planning Commission has approved TotalEnergies' proposed 320MW Middlebrook solar farm and associated battery, which will be located approximately 22 km south of Tamworth.

The state government has placed on exhibition the EIS for Lightsource bp's proposed 400MW Gundary solar farm, which would be located in the Southern Tablelands.

It has also placed on exhibition the EIS for the proposed 74MW/148MWh Hume North battery energy storage system, which would be located near Albury.

In addition, it has placed on exhibition the EIS for ACEnergy's proposed 250MW/1,100MWh Yanco battery energy storage system, which would be located near Leeton.

The state government is providing grants to four manufacturers through the Made in Victoria – Energy Technologies Manufacturing Program.

The four businesses will share funding of more than $1 million.

Statutory development - orderly exit of coal legislation. As lead legislator for National Electricity Market legislation, the South Australian government has introduced a National Electricity (South Australia) (Orderly Exit Management Framework) Amendment Bill 2024.

Introduction of the Bill follows a September meeting of national, state and territory energy ministers that approved the legislation.

The Bill establishes a process that enables jurisdictions to:

• Firstly, identify whether the early retirement of a thermal generator creates system reliability or security risks. 
• Secondly, investigate alternatives to replace the outgoing capacity, undertake voluntary negotiations with the generator.
• Thirdly, as a last resort, direct the generator to continue to operate until the risk of its retirement is managed. 

Consultation opportunity - revised copper strategy. The state government is seeking feedback on the development of a refreshed South Australian Copper Strategy.

Australia has the world’s third-largest copper reserves, and South Australia accounts for more than 69% of the nation's demonstrated economic reserves of copper.

Comments must be submitted by 5 December.

Open consultations:

• Water quality. The EPA is reviewing the state's Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy, which dates from 2015. Comments are due by 9 December.
• Waste to resources. The EPA has launched a review of the state's Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy, which dates from 2010. Comments are due by 20 December.

Statutory development - waste and recycling data. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is consulting on proposed changes to reporting requirements applying to liable waste and recycling operators.

Comments are due by 31 January.

Statutory development - draft Territory Coordinator legislation. The NT government has released draft legislation to establish the office of Territory Coordinator. Comments are due by 17 January.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has also appointed Stuart Knowles as the interim Territory Coordinator. Knowles is a former Inpex senior executive.

The NT Department of Mining and Energy is seeking feedback on the proposed development of the Darwin Renewable Energy Hub, including input on the preferred site location.

The hub, proposed for a site 30 kilometres from Darwin, would comprise six large-scale solar farms with a generation capacity of up to 210MW. Comments are due by 28 February.

New listings are in blue.

• The UK government has issued a policy paper on voluntary carbon and nature market integrity, to guide responsible participation in voluntary markets for buying and selling carbon and nature credits.
  
  In early 2025, the UK government will consult on the proposed implementation of these principles into voluntary carbon and nature markets and seek views on how they could be applied through guidance, standards and regulatory oversight.
  
  The move follows an announcement at COP29 by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that the UK will adopt a 2035 target of reducing emissions at least 81% below 1990 levels.
• Three Presidency pledges have been announced at the COP29 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Initiatives. They include a Green Energy Pledge, with signatories committing to green energy zones and corridors. They also include a Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge, with signatories aiming to increase global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500GW by 2030. They also include a Hydrogen Declaration, which aims to unlock the potential of a global market for clean hydrogen and its derivatives.
• The UN Environment Programme has launched its latest Eye on Methane Report.
• The latest Global Carbon Budget shows CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are continuing to increase, year on year. The latest annual stocktake shows the world is on track to reach a new record of 37.4 billion tonnes of CO₂ emitted from fossil fuels in 2024. This is an increase of 0.8% from the previous year.
• An international network supporting the development of private sector transition planning - the International Transition Plan Network - has launched at COP29.
• More than 1,000 companies have referenced the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in their reports, and 30 jurisdictions are making progress towards introducing ISSB Standards in their legal or regulatory frameworks. These are some of the key findings of a detailed progress report released by the IFRS Foundation. 
• A global alliance of green building organisations, including the Green Building Council of Australia, has launched a report on measures to improve the performance of buildings that are currently low performers.
• CPD has released a new report on corporate renewable electricity sourcing trends.

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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