ESG Snapshot: Issue 81

This week's highlights include:

• ACCC scrutiny. Several greenwashing investigations are "ongoing", according to the ACCC.
• FOGO. A new NSW law will require supermarkets and some other businesses to source separate food waste for collection.
• Steelworks move. The SA government has forced the Whyalla steelworks into administration, and with the help of the federal government will fund upgrade work and seek a new owner.
• Net zero inquiry. The ACF has told a NSW inquiry that coal and gas assessments should involve the Net Zero Commission, while renewables investors say they are worried about NSW biodiversity offset arrangements.
• Too low. Victoria's proposed renewable gas target is way too low, Bioenergy Australia has told the state government.
• Container deposit inquiry. The Qld government has launched an in inquiry into the state's container deposit scheme.
• Moomba CCS. Santos has big plans to develop its Moomba CCS operations, says its new climate action transition plan.

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

The ACCC says scrutiny of environmental claims will continue to be a priority for the agency in the coming financial year.

"Many Australian consumers want to reduce the negative impacts of their consumption choices on the environment, and use environmental claims as a key factor to decide where they want to spend their money," said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

"In the year ahead, this priority will include a focus on greenwashing in recognition of the substantial impact of this conduct on consumer trust and engagement," she said.

"We have several important investigations that are ongoing, and we will continue to proactively target misleading green claims aimed at consumers in a range of sectors including energy, food, fashion, and homewares."

A House of Representatives inquiry into local government sustainability has issued an interim report.

The report notes general agreement among LGAs that mitigating the effects of climate-related natural disasters and climate adaptation management is not only essential, but also poses a significant financial cost.

"Local governments are at the forefront of climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster response, and environmental protection; spending more on environmental protection than other government levels, but lacking resources and expertise to implement all necessary measures," the report says.

"As a result of these challenges, the committee has been advised additional and continued funding is needed to assist local governments to undertake disaster resilience and risk reduction initiatives to manage the physical and social impacts of disasters caused by climate change and natural disasters," it says.

Across all LGAs, the average annual damages to council assets as a result of coastal flooding, inland flooding, bushfires, heatwaves, and severe storms are in the range of $90–$120 million, the report notes.

"According to a report by Natural Capital Economics, this is expected to increase to between $210–$300 million by 2050, and to between $400–$540 million by 2100," it says.

The National Farmers Federation has welcomed the shelving of Nature Positive legislation that would have created a federal EPA. The Bill would have added more green tape for farmers, the NFF said.

Shelving the Bill removes a distraction preventing real discussion on reform of the EPBC Act, the NFF said.

CSIRO has launched a new portal that provides isotopic data that can be used by regulators and industry to verify a food's provenance and sustainability claims and ensure compliance with trade regulations. 

A Senate committee inquiry into waste reduction and recycling policies is due to report on 5 March.

The federal government has named 58 local governments that will share $50 million in round one grants under the $100 million Community Energy Upgrades Fund.

ARENA has awarded a $30 million grant to VSPC Pty Ltd to support its efforts to commercialise a new process for manufacturing cathode powder for lithium-ion batteries. The funding will go towards building a new 250 tonne-per-year demonstration facility, likely to be built in Brisbane. 

Consultation opportunity - recycling and waste. The federal government is seeking responses by 27 February to a survey on the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act.

Consultancy Currie has issued a report on Making the clean energy transition work for farmers.

The Queensland government has announced a parliamentary inquiry into the state's container refund scheme.

"Importantly, the inquiry will examine whether there is appropriate coverage of refund points so that all Queenslanders, regardless of where they live, can conveniently access the scheme," Environment Minister Andrew Powell told state Parliament.

"This is about strengthening this scheme, protecting our environment and putting more refund money where it belongs - in the pockets of Queenslanders. That is why we are inviting all Queenslanders to have their say."

The review was prompted by data showing an annual recovery rate of 67.4%, which is about 20% shy of legislated targets. 

Statutory development - FOGO. The NSW Parliament has passed a Bill on FOGO recycling, with an amendment requiring the establishment of an implementation advisory panel.

The Bill mandates source-separated collection of FOGO from households, and of food waste from supermarkets, various institutions, and hospitality premises.

It also requires large supermarkets to report monthly on their surplus food donations, from mid-2026. Under the legislation, all NSW households will be required to have a council FOGO collection from mid-2030.

Statutory development - planning. NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully has introduced a Bill that amends the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act in several ways.

The amendments include a change, made following a court ruling, which requires that decisions about the appropriate consent authority take into account only submissions made during the exhibition period, not any made afterwards.

In response to a separate court decision, the Bill also confirms that consent authorities have the power to impose conditions requiring the modification of a concept approval when assessing a subsequent development application.

The NSW government has issued its first Investment Mandate to the Energy Security Corporation, which outlines how the corporation is to co-invest with the private sector in renewable energy projects.

The Corporation has ben seeded with $1 billion to help build a more reliable energy system.

The NSW government has published its response to a parliamentary committee report on the planning system and the impacts of climate change on the environment and communities.

The response notes that agencies are developing a state policy for large-scale, multi-hazard managed relocation.

The government also says it supports a recommendation to implement statutory planning controls to mitigate the urban heat island effect, and will consider opportunities to do so.

"These opportunities may include updating provisions in state-wide instruments such as SEPPs as well as providing support to councils to update local policies and planning controls," it says.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has made a submission to a parliamentary committee inquiry into the Net Zero Commission's annual report.

The submission says planning regulations should be amended to require relevant planning decision makers to consult with the Net Zero Commission for all proposed coal and gas expansions or extensions.

Meanwhile, a submission from the Clean Energy Investor Group says that biodiversity offset processes in NSW are slower and more costly than in other jurisdictions.

The committee has released all submissions made to the inquiry.

Grant opportunity - environmental research. The EPA has released its 2025 guidelines for the Environmental Research Grants program. Expressions of interest close on 9 April, with grants of up to $200,000 available.

Industry association Bioenergy Australia has made a submission on the Victorian government's proposed bioenergy certificate trading scheme, stating that the proposed 2035 target for the scheme is too low.

"We submit that the proposed 4.5PJ target by 2035 underestimates both the capacity and the potential of Victoria's renewable gas industry," its submission says.

"A target this low tells investors that Victoria is not ready to support this sector, increasing the risk that capital will flow overseas instead of into the domestic market," it says.

The submission calls for a target of 14.5PJ by 2035, noting that this would be "consistent with the aspirational target outlined in Victoria's Renewable Gas Consultation Paper".

Since it began in 2018, the Solar Homes program has approved almost 430,000 applications and subsidised just over 400,000 installations, according to new program data. A total of $693 million in rebates have been approved, for solar panels, solar hot water systems, and batteries.

About 30% of Victorian homes have solar installed, more than double the number of homes that had solar when the Solar Homes program began in 2018.

The federal and South Australian governments have announced a multi-billion dollar package to support Whyalla Steelworks, which employs 1,100 workers. 

The funding follows the state government's decision to place the steelworks in administration.

The funding will consist of an immediate $100 million, half of which will go to creditors, with $32.6 million going to infrastructure upgrades, and $6 million to jobs matching and skills.

Another $384 million will go to fund the operation of the steelworks while it is in administration.

Another $1.9 billion of federal and state funding will go towards working with a new owner to upgrade and improve the steelworks.

The state funding will come from funding originally set aside for the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, which will now be deferred to secure the future of the steelworks.

"Whyalla is critical to sovereign Australian steel," the state government said. "It's one of only two Australian steelworks, produces 75% of Australian structural steel and is the only domestic producer of steel long products."

The SA government rushed a Whyalla steelworks Bill through Parliament in one day to facilitate taking control of the steelworks.

"The situation we find ourselves in today is one where the Crown is owed millions of dollars in mining royalties and water debts by OneSteel Manufacturing Pty Ltd the legal entity that owns and operates the steel works," SA Infrastructure and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis told Parliament.

"It is also being widely reported that there are also significant debts owed to a broad range of supplies to the Whyalla steelworks and multiple stop works by suppliers have been reported over the last few months as suppliers attempt to recover their debt," he said.

The South Australian government is providing a $450,000 grant to CoilRig to help commercialise its coiled tubing drilling rig, which provides a cost-effective solution for installing geothermal heat pumps.

The WA EPA has agreed to amend Infinite Green Energy's referral of a proposed green hydrogen project, in the Shire of Irwin.

The project entails the construction of a hydrogen production facility, powered by renewables.

The EPA has agreed to increase the maximum proposed hydrogen production by 19 tonnes a year, to 42 tonnes annually.

New listings are in blue.

Fonterra has announced new payments to reward farmers that reduce on-farm emissions.  

Santos has released its latest climate transition action plan, which will go to a non-binding vote at this year's AGM.

"Since 2022, Santos has invested over $740 million in Climate Transition Action Plan activities," it says.

The transition plan says phase one of its Moomba CCS project, which started injecting at the end of last September, had an immediate impact.

"In Q4 2024, equity emissions were down 14% and equity emissions intensity down 13% on the prior quarter," it says.

"Building on phase 1, which captures our own emissions, Santos is now progressing Moomba CCS phase. It has the potential to enable us to capture and store CO2 from customers and other third parties."

"Santos already has memoranda of understandings with various third parties for proposed storage of CO2 across our CCS hubs and agreements with international utility companies to investigate the potential for producing low carbon fuels such as synthetic gas."

"Santos aims to build and operate a commercial carbon storage business, safely and permanently storing approximately 14 million tonnes (gross) of third-party CO2e per annum by 2040," the plan says. "This is the equivalent to 50% of Santos’ 2023 equity downstream Scope 3 emissions."

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has released two new capacity-building tools - a Learning Lab, designed for self-guided knowledge and skill building, and a Trainer Portal, for use by training providers.

Meanwhile, the Science Based Targets Network has launched an Accountability Accelerator, which is a validation service for companies setting science-based targets for nature.

Three companies – Kering, GSK and Holcim – have already validated and publicly adopted the first science-based targets for nature following SBTN's year-long corporate pilot program which concluded last year. 

A new progress report published by the European Environment Agency finds that the EU is partially on track towards its 2030 climate and environmental goals and targets, but more must be done.

The New Zealand government says it is developing a carbon capture use and storage legislation, and businesses that capture and store CO2 "will be rewarded" through the country's emissions trading scheme.

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.

Click to search via SDG