ESG Snapshot: Issue 79

This week's highlights include:

• New bills. A new offshore wind Bill is before the federal parliament, a biosecurity Bill has passed in SA, a planning reform Bill is on the way in Tasmania, and consultation has started on a potential SA scrap metal law.
• Net zero grants. The NSW EPA is offering businesses two-stage decarbonisation grants of up to $30,000.
• Solar bulk-buy. Western Sydney councils are developing a solar and battery bulk-buy.
• Grid inquiry delay. A Victorian parliamentary committee has delayed the reporting date for an inquiry into the state's grid.
• Transition plan. Gas and electricity networks owner Jemena will tilt its asset portfolio more strongly towards electricity (company news).
• Hansen's warning. Renowned climate scientist James Hansen has co-authored a new paper warning of the "fecklessness" of current climate policies (international).

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

Statutory development - offshore wind. Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has introduce a Bill that would ensure all applications for offshore wind feasibility licences are treated the same way, whether or not they were submitted before or after regulatory changes made last December.

A Senate committee inquiry into greenwashing is due to report on Wednesday, and a Senate committee inquiry into offshore wind consultation is due to report on Thursday.

Grant opportunities - graphite. CSIRO is offering R&D grants of up to $50,000 to mining and manufacturing small-to-medium enterprises to undertake collaborative graphite R&D projects. 

Export Finance Australia is providing a $170 million guarantee to support the 583 MW Greater Changhua 4 Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan. Once completed, the project will power nearly two million households and reduce carbon emissions by 3.5 million tonnes annually. 

EFA is working alongside the project's financing partners, including international banks, Credendo, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (KSURE), Taiwanese National Credit Guarantee Administration (NCGA), and UK Export Finance (UKEF).  The transaction has a total value of $1.6 billion.

ARENA has awarded a $2.4 million grant to EVX Australia Pty Ltd to install 250 public kerbside pole electric vehicle chargers in more than 60 local government areas across Victoria, NSW and South Australia.

The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) and CSIRO are trialling energy ratings for existing homes.

Eligible households can join a trial to get a free energy rating by a trained assessor.

The Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation has issued a policy options paper that recommends a $350 million investment package to enable a transition out of native forest logging by supporting the plantation sector, and plantation-sourced engineered wood products.

EPBC Act developments:

• Samsung has lodged an EPBC referral for the 250MW Romani solar farm and battery, southwest of Hay.

The Queensland government has announced it will not provide funding for the CQ-H2 hydrogen project in Gladstone.

Following the announcement, state-owned power company Stanwell said the CQ-H2 consortium "is considering the state's announcement that it will not provide further funding to support the CQ-H2 project".

"Stanwell Corporation is also reviewing its involvement in other hydrogen initiatives and will work with relevant stakeholders regarding future steps for these projects," the brief statement from Stanwell said.

Gladstone mayor Matt Burnett said the CQ-H2 project would be "good for Gladstone", and claimed the project is "pressing ahead", with Stanwell not handing back more than $1.4 billion in proposed ARENA funding.

Burnett has met with both Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and federal Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen to advocate for the project.

ESG considerations will be among the factors considered in the development of a new 25-year plan for Queensland's primary industries sector.

Grant opportunity - decarbonisation. Applications are now open for a $1.5 million grant program to help eligible businesses achieve net zero emissions.

The Net Zero Planning Grant scheme offers businesses up to $30,000, covering up to 75% of project costs, to identify and implement actions towards net zero.

Eligible projects include developing a greenhouse gas inventory, or a net zero stakeholder engagement plan, or formulating a net zero action plan or net zero target.

The grants will be provided in two stages. In the first stage, up to $4,000 will be provided to access advisors. In stage 2, up to $26,000 will be provided to support detailed work on prioritised actions.

The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) has published an Expression of Interest to implement a solar and battery bulk-buy program.

The program will lead to the creation of a Virtual Power Plant across participating local government areas in Western Sydney. Expressions of interest must be lodged by 25 February.

A future land use project for Liddell Power Station has been approved by the state government, which will result in the former power station being demolished, remediated, and prepared for future industrial land uses.

Three projects have jointly been awarded $1.25 million under the EPA Plastics Research Program:

• A study to develop ways to reliably collect and analyse microplastics in soil, compost and treated sewage (to be conducted by NSW DCCEEW and CSIRO).
• A project to create tools to identify and prioritise harmful chemicals from plastics in agricultural soils (the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and CSIRO).
• A study into plastic fabrics to track harmful chemicals in new and recycled textiles (University of Technology Sydney's Institute for Sustainable Futures).

The Victorian Parliament's Economy and Infrastructure Committee has extended the tabling date of a self-referred inquiry into the Victorian electricity grid from 20 December this year to 30 June 2026.

The Victorian government is consulting on plans to remake the Forest (Fire Protection Regulations, which will likely entail only minor changes. Comments are due by 3 March.

Open consultations:

• VEU changes. The Victorian government is consulting on plans to reward the introduction of new energy management information systems through the Victorian Energy Upgrades program. Comments are due by 17 February.
• Biosecurity. Agriculture Victoria is consulting on the merits of introducing a general biosecurity duty for animals and plants. Comments are due by 28 February.

Statutory development - planning. The state government has flagged the introduction of legislation that only allows a person directly aggrieved by a planning decision to lodge an appeal to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

"This legislation will mean that appeals can only be lodged by someone who is directly and adversely impacted by the planning decision – not well-funded activist groups and anti-everything organisations set up to oppose Tasmania moving forward," said Planning Minister Felix Ellis.

Statutory development - biosecurity. The SA Parliament has passed a Biosecurity Bill that updates and strengthens the state's regime for preventing, eliminating and controlling biosecurity risks.

Green Industries SA, in partnership with Charitable Reuse Australia, has launched a survey aimed at understanding the scale and impact of reuse activities in South Australia. 

Consultation opportunity - scrap metal theft. The state government is canvassing views on introducing a law to prevent scrap metal and copper theft.

There is currently no regulation of the state's scrap metal industry is currently unregulated, and scrap metal dealers are not required to be registered or licensed. 

Comments are due by 25 February.

Open consultations:

• Biodiversity Bill. The state government has released a draft Biodiversity Bill. The objects of the Bill include "to protect, restore and enhance biodiversity such that there is an improvement in the state of biodiversity at all scales and to build the resilience of biodiversity". Comments are due by 18 February.

Western Australian voters will go to the polls on 8 March.

The WA EPA has recommended that a proposal to extend the life of Kalgoorlie-Boulder's "Super Pit" be approved, subject to conditions.

Open consultations:

• Biosolids. The NT EPA has released proposed guidelines for biosolids management. Comments are due by 28 February.

New listings are in blue.

Global temperature rose more than 0.4°C during the past two years, says a new paper in Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, with co-authors including renowned climate scientist James Hansen.

"We find that polar ice melt and freshwater injection onto the North Atlantic Ocean exceed prior estimates and, because of accelerated global warming, the melt will increase," says the paper, which calls for changes to the way climate change modelling is conducted.

"As a result, shutdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is likely within the next 20-30 years, unless actions are taken to reduce global warming – in contradiction to conclusions of IPCC," the paper says.

"If AMOC is allowed to shut down, it will lock in major problems including sea level rise of several metres – thus, we describe AMOC shutdown as the 'point of no return'," it warns.

"Today's older generations – despite having adequate information – failed to stem climate change or set the planet on a course to avoid growing climate disasters," the paper says.

"And they tied one arm of young people behind their back by supporting only renewable energies as an alternative to fossil fuels.

"Now, as it has become clear that climate is driving hard toward the Point of No Return, there are efforts to tie the other arm of young people behind their back.

"We refer to efforts to prohibit actions that may be needed to affect Earth’s energy balance, temporarily, while the difficult task of reducing greenhouse gases is pursued as rapidly as practical – namely Solar Radiation Modification (SRM).

"Purposeful global cooling with such climate interventions is falsely described as 'geoengineering', while, in fact, it is action to reduce geoengineering. Human-made climate forcings are already geoengineering the planet at an unprecedented, dangerous, rate."

The paper also says nuclear power is necessary, and says successful efforts to block nuclear power have backfired.

It also calls for the introduction of "fee-and-dividend" schemes to price carbon.

"Young people feel anxiety about climate change and their future," an epilogue in the paper, written by Hansen, acknowledges.

"Failure to be realistic in climate assessment and failure to call out the fecklessness of current policies to stem global warming is not helpful to young people," it says.

A new paper in Nature Climate Change examines corporate emissions targets that ended in 2020 to investigate the final target outcomes, the transparency of target outcomes, and potential consequences for missed emissions targets.

A total of 1,041 firms in the study had emissions targets ending in 2020, of which 320 (31%) disappeared and 88 (9%) were not met. For firms that failed their 2020 emissions targets, the study found no significant market reaction, changes in media sentiment, or changes in environmental scores

In contrast, initial announcements of these 2020 emissions targets were rewarded with significant improvements in media sentiment and environmental scores.

The Energy Transitions Commission has released a report on achieving zero-carbon buildings.

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