ESG Snapshot: Issue 96

This week's highlights include:

• 24-year wait to fill coal mine. An EnergyAustralia Yallourn coal mine rehabilitation plan says it will take over two decades to fill the pit with water.
• Climate disclosures scrutiny. Victoria's Auditor-General has a two-stage plan to examine climate disclosures by state agencies.
• Biodiversity Bill. The SA Parliament has passed legislation that overhauls and modernises the state's efforts to protect and restore its biodiversity.
• Renewables Bill. The majority of a Queensland parliamentary committee has recommended that a contentious renewables Bill be passed.
• Grid Bill. The Victorian government has introduced a Bill to transfer responsibility for transmission planning from AEMO to VicGrid.
• EPA climate policy. The SA EPA has established reference groups to help it develop a statutory policy on climate change.
• Quick and confidential. The WA government will instigate a rapid, intensive and confidential consultation with industry on decarbonisation.
• Push to boost coal exports. Unlike Labor, the Queensland government isn't afraid to say the word 'coal', says the state's Trade Minister.
• NSW readies for coal transition. NSW will allocate almost $30 million to establish a Future Jobs and Investment Authority that will assist coal regions.

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

The surge in extreme weather disasters around Australia reinforces the need for national leadership on adaptation to keep communities safe in a changing climate, says a new report from the Climate Change Authority.

Home safe: National leadership in adapting to a changing climate examines how climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of flooding, bushfires, extreme storms and coastal erosion. It also examines the rising costs of these events.

"There is a clear economic case for resourcing adaptation," the report says. "Every dollar governments invest in climate adaptation or disaster risk reduction is estimated to save between $2 and $11 in future recovery costs."

"To unlock these benefits the Australian government needs to increase funding for
adaptation measures and services," it says.

"Aligning the requirements of the National Construction Code with projected climate impacts could help make homes more resilient," the report adds.

Environment Minister Murray Watt says he aims to deliver environmental law reforms "within the next 18 months". The Minister, who convened a meeting of key stakeholders in Canberra last week, said the reforms would be based on three pillars:

• Stronger environmental protection and restoration.
• More efficient and robust project assessments.
• Greater accountability and transparency in decision making.

The administration of the GEMS energy efficiency and labelling scheme is only "partly effective", the Australian National Audit Office has concluded in a new report.

DCCEEW has agreed to strengthen regulatory oversight of the scheme.

The Australian Sustainable Finance Institute has released the final version of the Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, which offers financial institutions and businesses a robust, voluntary framework to assess the green claims of economic activities.

Several major financial institutions are participating in an implementation phase pilot of the taxonomy, including ANZ, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Commonwealth Bank, HESTA, Moody's Ratings, NAB, Rabobank, Rest and Westpac.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has committed $15 million to the new Climate Tech Partners Fund I, managed by venture capital firm Climate Tech Partners.

The CEFC investment was made alongside commitments from Australian Ethical, the Besan Family Office, and other investors.

The Climate Tech Partners fund will focus on early-stage companies that possess commercially viable technologies that have significant potential for large-scale emissions reduction.

The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility will invest up to $50 million to support the Butcherbird manganese project in the Pilbara.

Manganese is on Australia's Critical Minerals List, and the NAIF loan will enable Perth-based company Element 25 to increase its annual production of manganese concentrate threefold to 1.1 million tonnes.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has announced that the government will move the Capacity Investment Scheme to a one-stage tender process, which will reduce the time taken to finalise tender outcomes to around six months, from the current nine months.

 Bowen also announced the release of guidelines for the $30 million Grid Enhancing Technologies grants program.

"We are presently connecting less than 3GW of new generation a year," Climate Change Authority chief executive Brad Archer said in his speech to Australian Energy Week.

"To stay ahead of the curve on the closure of coal-fired power stations and meet national targets, that number needs to lift to about 6.6GW a year," he said, foreshadowing recommendations in the Authority's upcoming report on 'unlocking Australia's clean energy potential'.

"This is within reach – the Clean Energy Regulator estimates that total capacity reaching final investment decision this year could be more than 6GW, based on the successful bids under the first tender of the Capacity Investment Scheme," Archer said.

"And the CIS tenders have been significantly oversubscribed, so there is cause for optimism."

"That’s why our new report recommends the Australian government work with states and territories to reach a shared understanding of how much renewable capacity will be built by 2030 beyond the CIS target – for example through Renewable Energy Transformation Agreements, other state and territory commitments, and private investment."

"If required, the Government should then expand the renewable capacity target under the current CIS to close any remaining gap to achieving the 82% renewable generation target."

ARENA is providing a $19.8 million grant to support a $48.8 million Front-End Engineering Design study for the NeoSmelt project, which aims to develop an electric smelting furnace to make low-emissions iron.

Funding for NeoSmelt is being delivered through the $400 million Industrial Transformation Stream of the $1.9 billion federal Powering the Regions Fund.

NeoSmelt is a joint venture between BlueScope, BHP, Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy and Mitsui Iron Ore Development.

NeoSmelt's proposed Kwinana facility would be Australia's largest ironmaking electric smelting furnace pilot plant. A final investment decision is expected next year, with operations at Kwinana planned to start in 2028.

Statutory development - NGER. The federal government has released a consultation outcomes paper on proposed changes to the NGER Scheme, and will issue amendments to the NGER Regulations "in coming weeks".

Some changes have already been implemented through the 2025 update to the NGER Determination.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has issued a consumer protection determination that will make changes including:

• Preventing energy retailers from increasing prices more than once a year.
• Preventing customers from being charged more than the standing offer price, if their initial lower-cost offer changes or expires.

Another draft determination would more effectively highlight for customers any better plan offers that are available to them.

The AEMC determinations follow a submission made by federal, state and territory energy ministers last August.

The 'improving consumer confidence' rule change comes into effect on 1 July next year, and the 'assisting hardship customers' rule change will start on 30 December next year.

The federal and Queensland governments are inviting tenders for a fund manager for the $24 million Great Barrier Reef Urban Technology and Innovation Fund, which is co-funded by the two governments.

The fund will issue a call for project proposals later this year.

Consultation opportunity - Default Market Offer. The federal government is considering reforms to the Default Market Offer (DMO) that sets a cap on how much energy retailers can charge households and small businesses that are on standing offer contracts in NSW, South Australia and south-east Queensland. 

Submissions are due by 18 July.

After chairing the Accounting for Nature Board since its inception in 2018, Peter Cosier AM will step down as chair on 1 July, and remain on the Board as a non-executive director. AfN's new chair will be Peter Harper PSM, who has served on the Board since 2019.

Videos of two recent BCSDA webinars are now available on the BCSDA YouTube channel. One webinar is on ESG careers, policy signals, and market insights.

The other is on industry associations as a force for good.

Anthesis Group has released a briefing on the performance of the reformed Safeguard Mechanism in its first year, which also discusses key aspects to look out for next year.

The majority report of a parliamentary committee inquiry into a Bill that would overhaul development assessment processes for large renewables projects has recommended passage of the Bill.

In a statement of reservation in the report, Labor members of the committee said the Bill "is blind to practical implementation challenges".

"Despite LNP Premier, The Hon David Crisafulli MP directing his Planning Minister, The Hon Jarrod Bleijie MP to ensure that renewable energy projects face consistent approval processes with mining and agriculture, this Bill does the opposite", their statement says.

"It imposes a unique, frontloaded framework onto renewable projects that requires mandatory assessments and agreements before development applications can even be lodged."

Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training, Ros Bates, and Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Dale Last, have hosted a high-level Coal Supply Chain Roundtable in Brisbane, "bringing together leaders from across the coal export network to drive practical solutions and unlock billions in stalled export capacity".

The meeting discussed issues including infrastructure and regulatory barriers.

"Unlike Labor, which was afraid to say the word 'coal' and damaged investment and trade relations with its hostility toward the sector, the Crisafulli Government is proud to support our coal industry and the regional communities that rely on its continued success," Bates said.

Minister Last said improving efficiencies in the coal supply chain was also a key priority for the Queensland government's Resources Cabinet Committee.

Glencore's Rolleston coal mine continuation project in the Bowen Basin would disturb 592 hectares of habitat for EPBC-listed species, including 413 hectares of koala breeding habitat, says advice from the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Unconventional Gas Development and Large Coal Mining Development (the IESC).

A Queensland parliamentary committee inquiry into the state's container deposit scheme last week released transcript of a briefing provided to the committee by officials of the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

Open consultations:

• The Queensland government has launched a statutory review of the environmentally relevant activity (ERA) standards that form part of the Great Barrier Reef protection regulations for sugarcane and banana cultivation and beef cattle grazing. Comments are due by 8 August.

The NSW government says the State Budget will include $27.3 million to establish the Future Jobs and Investment Authority.

The Authority will help guide the future economic development of the state's four coal mining regions – the Hunter, Central West, Illawarra, and North West – from coal production towards other economic opportunities and employment.

The Authority's work will be backed by a Future Jobs and Investment Fund.

As part of its remit, the Future Jobs and Investment Authority will develop a framework to allow the funding to be spent on projects like infrastructure and post-mining land use planning, with this work to be done in concert with the Federal Government's Net Zero Economy Authority.

Currently, around 25,000 people are directly employed in coal mines.

"While coal will remain an important regional employer and economic driver for decades, global demand is forecast to decrease in coming decades," the state government said.

"Under current planning approvals, by 2040 all four of the state's coal-fired power stations, and 32 of the state’s 39 coal mines will close," it said.

NSW will have three large-scale virtual power plants operating by summer, each of which will coordinates businesses to reduce or shift their energy use for short periods when demand is high, such as during cold snaps and heatwaves.

Enel X will operate the three VPPs, which will involve 21 major power using businesses that operate 108 sites across Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle and Illawarra. They will have a combined capacity of 95MW of demand response.

The projects are among four being underwritten by the NSW government as part of a firming tender.

The participating businesses will be compensated to adjust their energy use when the grid needs it most, which is anticipated to be no more than a few times a year.

A NSW parliamentary committee inquiry into infrastructure needed to support electric and alternative energy source vehicles will hold its first public hearings on 30 June and 1 July.

A NSW parliamentary committee inquiry into modern slavery risks faced by temporary workers in rural and regional areas held a public hearing in Griffith last week.

The NSW government has placed on exhibition Hiringa/Sundown's application for approval to develop a green hydrogen and ammonia production and storage facility near Moree.

The NSW government has also placed on exhibition Ausgrid's EIS for the 200MW/400MWh Homebush Battery Energy Storage System, and BJEI Australia's application for approval to expand the Wollar BESS from 30MW/30MWh to 280MW/560MWh.

The NSW EPA has announced the appointment of Adjunct Professor Mary Haines to the EPA Board.

Professor Haines has a PhD in Environmental Epidemiology and Public Health, and is the Deputy Chair of the Sydney Local Health District. 

Norton Rose Fulbright has issued its latest NSW Planning Quarterly.

Open consultations:

• The NSW government is consulting on a new draft heritage strategy. Comments are due by 13 July.
• The NSW Net Zero Commission has issued a consultation paper on the transition to net zero, and the work of the Commission. Comments are due by 11 July.

Statutory development - transmission infrastructure. Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D'Ambrosio has introduced the National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (Stage 2 VicGrid) Bill, which transfers responsibility for transmission network planning from the Australian Energy Market Operator to VicGrid.

"This will enable VicGrid to implement the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan which will make sure we build the right infrastructure in the right place at the right time as we transition to cheaper renewable energy," Minister D'Ambrosio said. 

In addition, the Bill introduces new network access arrangements for VicGrid to manage access to the grid "which will improve coordination, help minimise constraints on the network and give investors more certainty", the Minister said.

The Bill also introduces new Renewable Energy Zone Community Energy Funds, and a separate fund for Traditional Owners.

The REZ Community Energy Funds will support projects and initiatives that improve energy supply, efficiency, and affordability for host regions. The final details of the funds will be formalised through further legislation later this year.

The funds build on the additional payments for landowners that host new transmission infrastructure that were legislated last year.

"Landowners already receive full and fair compensation under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act, with an additional $8,000 per km per year to ensure that they are financially better off," D'Ambrosio said.

EnergyAustralia has released a draft Mine Rehabilitation Plan for the Yallourn mine.

The key feature of the rehabilitated mine will be a 665GL pit lake that will be capable of supporting recreational uses. To fill the lake, up to 27GW of water would be sourced annually from the Latrobe System, and it will take about 24 years to fill the pit to the required level.

Comments are due by 18 August. The mine is expected to close in 2028.

The Victorian Auditor-General's Office says it will assess the completeness and reliability of water corporations' climate-related disclosure reporting in FY26, in its latest annual plan.

Then, in FY27, it will examine climate-related disclosure reporting by government agencies more broadly.

In FY27 VAGO will also examine whether the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, along with "a selection of local councils", are protecting threatened species by ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Also slated for scrutiny in FY27 is the Victorian Energy Upgrades program, as well as an examination of whether government agencies are on track to meet the state's offshore wind energy generation targets.

In FY26 VAGO will also assess whether funds awarded under the $200 million Forestry Transition Program have been used as intended.

The Victorian Greens welcomed the audit of the state government's funding of forestry transition payouts.

The money "should have gone to support workers into sustainable jobs but are alleged to have been exploited to log Tasmanian native forests," the Greens said.

EPA Victoria has received a development licence application from East Gippsland Shire Council for a composting facility that would process up to 25,000 tonnes of organic waste annually.

The EPA has also received a development licence application from Australian Recycling Corporation for a soil washing facility capable of processing up to 250,000 tonnes of soil annually.

Open consultations:

• The state government is consulting on potential amendments to the Payment in Lieu of Rates (PILOR) regime, to clarify arrangements for energy storage systems. Comments are due by 30 June.

Open consultations:

• Comments on a draft Tasmanian Future Clean Fuels Strategy are due by 4 July.

Statutory development - Biodiversity Act. The SA Parliament has passed the Biodiversity Act, after the Opposition failed to have the Bill referred to Parliament's Natural Resources Committee. The Bill includes:

• A new general duty to protect biodiversity.
• Tougher penalties, to deter environmental harm.
• A new process to identify and safeguard habitats vital for threatened species.
• A new process for listing threatened species and threatened ecological communities, which aligns with other Australian jurisdictions.
• A nationally consistent process to assess and recognise threatened native species and ecological communities.

"This new Biodiversity Act is a yet another example of South Australia taking a leading role in protecting the environment and modernising our economy to deal with the effects of climate change," said Climate, Environment and Water Minister Susan Close.

"This Act will help build a stronger and more sustainable economy through biodiversity protection, promotion of ESG credentials for our businesses and facilitation of investment in nature restoration."

Climate Change Minister Susan Close has told an Estimates Committee hearing that the EPA is working to develop a statutory environment protection policy for climate change.

"We have established reference groups for targeted stakeholders including for government and industry, including separate groups for high emitters, professional stakeholder bodies, and primary industry and environment NGOs," the Minister said.

"There has been a discussion paper and supporting resource guide to inform the scope of the environment protection policy for climate change. It has been approved and is looking at exploring the policy options associated with requiring climate change mitigation plans and climate change adaptation planning."

Consultation opportunity - Firm Energy Reliability Mechanism. The SA government has launched a stage 2 consultation on its proposed Firm Energy Reliability Mechanism (FERM).

Open consultations:

• Green Industries SA is consulting on a draft statewide circular economy and waste strategy for 2025 to 2030. Comments are due by 23 July.

The WA government says its FY26 Budget provides at least $1.1 billion to be delivered through the 2025-26 State Budget "to secure a future that is Made in WA".

Almost half the total ($500 million) is in the form of a boost to the Strategic Industries Fund, which will double the fund's total value to $1 billion. The Fund will deliver common-user infrastructure at Strategic Industrial Areas (SIAs) throughout the state.

Other funding includes:

• $61.9 million to fully transition to manufacturing electric buses.
• $50 million  for the Local Battery Manufacturing Program, which will complement the WA Residential Battery Scheme.
• $30 million for new energies industries through the Investment Attraction Fund.
• $40 million to top up the New Industries Fund.
• $30 million to top up the Collie Industrial Transition Fund and support the town's Just Transition.
• $429,000 to plan for the $17.1 million expansion of South Metropolitan TAFE's Munster campus to include renewable industries training facilities.

A new Pilbara Ports clean fuels bunkering hub roadmap outlines a pathway to establish a clean fuel bunkering hub in the region, enabling the use of alternative marine fuels such as ammonia.

Ammonia-fuelled vessels could start visiting the Pilbara as soon as early next year, the roadmap says.

In FY24, Pilbara Ports facilitated over 7,700 vessel visits, primarily on the Pilbara-China iron ore route.

"A shift to low-carbon fuels could reduce shipping emissions from more than nine million tonnes of CO2 per year to under 560,000 tonnes - a 94% reduction," the state government says.

The WA government will engage in a rapid, intensive and confidential consultation exercise with industry peak bodies over the coming months, Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has announced.

"This process will combine the latest intelligence from key economic sectors with work by the new Department of Energy and Economic Diversification to finalise plans for the next phase of energy grid infrastructure and to review the effectiveness of our energy market," the Minister said.

"The process will feed into major decisions of government to be announced this year, including the transmission investment plan for the South West Interconnected System," she said.

Statutory development - ban on native forest logging. Parliament has passed the Conservation and Land Management Amendment Bill, which formalises the state's ban on native forest logging.

A Territory government appointed Approvals Fast-Track Taskforce has delivered its final report, which makes 22 recommendations to streamline approvals across the Northern Territory.

The Territory government is considering the recommendations. The report has not yet been made public.

The NT EPA is inviting comment on the NT Department of Mining and Energy's referral for the Darwin Energy Hub, which will supply up to 210MW of solar generation and battery storage into the Darwin-Katherine electricity system.

New listings are in blue.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is inviting companies to pilot test the draft Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2. 

The pilot - open to corporations of all sizes and locations - "is a critical step in gathering evidence to ensure that the flagship Standard is not only scientifically robust, but also practical for businesses", SBTi says.

The European Commission has announced it will axe a proposed law designed to outlaw unfounded claims about the environmental or climate friendliness of companies or their products, in line with a demand from the centre-right European People's Party, reports Euractive.

The legislation, known as the Green Claims Directive, was proposed in 2023 and was intended prevent companies from making unsubstantiated assertions about their carbon footprint and other environmental impacts.

The global land area affected by drought has doubled in the last 120 years, according to a new OECD report on adopting to a drier world.

The cost of droughts has also risen sharply, and an average drought in 2035 is projected to cost at least 35% more than it would today, the report says.

Carbon pricing revenues exceeded $100 billion in 2024, according to a new World Bank report.

Over half of this revenue generated for public budgets was earmarked for environment, infrastructure, and development projects, representing a slight increase from previous years.

Meanwhile, the Integrity Council, the UNFCCC, and the World Bank have launched new guidance on government decision-making on carbon markets.

A new International Energy Agency analysis shows the release of greenhouse gases from the fossil gas supply chain could be cut by more than 60% using today's technologies.

Many of these measures could be implemented at low or moderate cost, the report says.

Thinktank E3G has released a new briefing on fossil fuel phaseout signals in NDCs.

Of 22 countries that have submitted new NDCs, ten have reaffirmed or bolstered their commitment to transitioning away from fossil fuels, it says. No countries have introduced country-wide moratoriums on fossil fuel exploration and drilling.

InfluenceMap has released a new analysis of Japan's latest strategic energy plan.

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