ESG Snapshot: Issue 99

This week's highlights include:

• ACCU 'hard limit'. A CEFC-backed report proposes capping the extent to which ACCUs can be used to offset liquid fuel-related emissions in key sectors.
• It's not pollution. The Wheatstone LNG project's greenhouse gas emissions are not pollution, says Western Australia's environment department.
• $1 billion benefit. An updated cost-benefit assessment for Marinus Link for the first time quantifies the project's emissions reduction benefits.
• Paris agreements. A UNESCO meeting in Paris has made key decisions on Murujuga and the Great Barrier Reef.
• Inside the tent. The federal government is seeking expressions of interest from those wanting to run an event at Australia's COP30 pavilion.
• The under-thirties. A potential tweak of the Capacity Investment Scheme would allow participation by wind and solar farms with a capacity under the existing 30MW threshold.
• Incoming #1. The Federal Court will tomorrow hand down its judgement in a landmark climate change case.
• Incoming #2. The International Court of Justice will next week hand down its decision on the climate obligations of nations.

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

Mike Kaiser takes the reins today as secretary of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water.

Kaiser has had senior roles in the public and private sector, including director-general of Queensland's Department of Premier and Cabinet, Queensland Coordinator-General, and partner at KPMG.

Constraining some sectors from using no more than 30% ACCUs to offset their liquid fuel emissions would help to develop a robust low carbon liquid fuel industry (LCLF) in Australia, according to a new report from the CEFC and Deloitte.

The report, Refined Ambitions: Exploring Australia’s Low Carbon Liquid Fuel Potential, concludes that LCLFs are crucial to Australia’s net zero future, particularly for sectors such as aviation, mining, heavy freight, and defence, where electrification is challenging.

The 30% "hard limit" constitutes the "central scenario" proposed by the report, which concludes it would result in a "sizeable seven billion litre LCLF market by 2050, abating up to 20Mt of carbon each year".

However, to establish a world-leading LCLF industry in Australia, the report proposes an additional measure - an EU-style LCLF mandate applied to the aviation and maritime sectors.

The ReFuelEU-style mandate on two sectors, as well as ACCU constraints on other liquid fuel-using sectors constitutes the report's "accelerated scenario".

This could result in an almost 12 billion litre LCLF market by 2050, reducing liquid fuel emissions by 35 million tonnes annually.

The federal government is inviting expressions of interest for innovative event proposals for the Australian Pavilion at COP30, in Belém.

Submissions close on Wednesday 6 August.

The two proponents of the proposed Marinus Link interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria have released an updated assessment of costs and benefits.

Marinus Link Pty Ltd (MLPL) - which is jointly owned by the federal, Victorian and Tasmanian governments - along with TasNetworks, stating that the findings "show that as the energy market continues to evolve, Project Marinus remains crucial for energy affordability, security, and decarbonisation".

Costs are now estimated at $3.89 billion for stage one of Marinus Link (up $30 million on the previous update), and at $1.14 billion for the associated North West Transmission Developments (up $200 million).

However, these increased costs are more than outweighed by the revised calculation for a range of benefits that will result from the project, the update says.

One of those benefits - not considered in previous cost benefit assessments of the two associated projects - is the emissions benefits associated with the substitution of Tasmanian hydropower for coal-fired generation.

These emissions benefits could potentially total slightly more than $1 billion, based on a methodology developed by the Australian Energy Regulator, according to the project proponents.

DCCEEW is consulting on the merits of running Capacity Investment Scheme tenders for aggregations of small energy projects and technologies, with a discussion paper noting that energy market participants are increasingly aggregating small resources and operating them in a coordinated manner.

The CIS currently requires that generation projects have a minimum capacity of 30MW, and the paper seeks views on the potential inclusion in CIS tenders of solar and wind farms with smaller capacities, through a bundling approach.

The paper also refers to the role of industrial loads, and household virtual power plants.

Comments are due by 5 August.

The Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee is inviting comments on whether to remake four ACCU methods that have either sunsetted, or will do so shortly - land and sea transport, reforestation and afforestation, source separated organic waste, and beef cattle herd management.

Comments are due by 4 August.

Meanwhile, ERAC is also consulting on proposed changes to the animal effluent management ACCU method.

ERAC has recommended extending the crediting period to 15 years for certain non-biomethane projects - those that combust methane using a flare, and those that use an engine to generate electricity. Comments on the proposals are due by 25 July.

DCCEEW is consulting on two aspects of consumer energy resources. The two aspects are data sharing, and redefining roles for market and power systems operations.

Submissions are due by 20 August, and the department has also scheduled webinars as part of the consultation process.

The federal government has released a new Timber Fibre Strategy, which was prepared for the Forest and Renewable Materials Partnership by natural resources consultancy The Fifth Estate.

Grant opportunity - solar R&D. ARENA has launched a new $60 million funding round for R&D into ultra low-cost solar.

The funding will be spread evenly across two streams - cells and modules, and reducing the costs of balance of system deployment and maintenance.

Court case - climate change. The Federal Court will tomorrow hand down its decision in what has been termed the Australian Climate Case.

Two Torres Strait First Nations leaders are lead plaintiffs in the class action, and are alleging that that by failing to take reasonable steps to prevent climate change
harms, the federal government is negligent and has unlawfully breached its duty of care to the Torres Strait community.

They are also asking the Court to make an order requiring that the government reduce emissions in line with the best available science.

The case has been developed in partnership with the Urgenda Foundation, which successfully took the Dutch government to court for not doing enough to prevent climate change.

A meeting in Paris of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has inscribed the Murujuga cultural landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

"This is an emotional and proud moment for MAC and all Ngarda-Ngarli," the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation said. "Our decades of hard work, cultural leadership, and deep responsibility for Ngurra (Country) have been recognised on the world stage. We have always known the significance of this place. Now the world does too."

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said that "after more than 50,000 years of being carefully protected and managed by its Traditional Owners and Custodians, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape has been recognised for its Outstanding Universal Value on the World Heritage List.

Meanwhile, The Australian Marine Conservation Society reports that the World Heritage Committee has passed a decision to undertake a full review of Australia's management of the Great Barrier Reef in 2026.

The move shows that current efforts "are not enough to protect this global icon", the society says.

According to the society, Australia has been asked to submit a full State of Conservation report to the World Heritage Committee by February 2026, outlining its progress in implementing the recommendations of a 2022 UNESCO-IUCN monitoring mission.

"If progress is deemed insufficient, the Great Barrier Reef could be recommended for inclusion on the 'World Heritage In Danger' list," the society says.

Australia will continue to support Southeast Asia's clean energy shift, "by bridging infrastructure gaps and building resilient supply chains", Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has told the Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur.

"That's why Australian Development Investments is mobilising private capital for the Southeast Asia Clean Energy Fund II and the KINETIK FUND for Green Infrastructure in Indonesia," the Minister said.

"And it's why our energy package with ASEAN is backing in the ASEAN Power Grid to enable cross-border power trading and enhance energy security and affordability," she said.

The federal government is providing $16.4 million to Palau for clean energy measures, under the auspices of the Australia-Pacific Partnership for Energy Transition.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has proposed that a scheme should continue which allows large electricity users to be paid for reducing their consumption when the grid is under stress.

The wholesale demand response mechanism (WDRM) should continue operating in the national electricity market, the draft AEMC report recommends.

Comments are due by 14 August.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has today released its 2025 Enhanced Locational Information (ELI) report, which provides regional-level data on National Electricity Market opportunities and challenges.

"This report presents key locational data to help investors understand where their projects are most likely to succeed, and where challenges, such as network congestion, curtailment, or energy losses, may arise," AEMO says. 

"As of April 2025, there were over 20GW of committed or anticipated connection projects, and AEMO was aware of over 300 GW of future proposed projects under consideration," the report says.

"Of these projects, 55% are grid-scale wind and solar generation and a further 41% battery or pumped hydro storage, representing a predominantly renewable future fleet."

The ACCC has issued a determination providing a five-year authorisation to the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) and industry participants allowing them to collaborate on sustainable finance initiatives.

Norton Rose Fulbright has released a climate change litigation update, which examines key trends and key cases.

Open consultations:

• Guarantee of Origin scheme. DCCEEW has opened a new round of consultation on aspects of the Guarantee of Origin (GO) scheme, ahead of the scheme's launch later this year. Comments are due by 18 July.
• Offshore carbon capture and storage. DCCEEW is consulting on three offshore CCS guidance documents. Comments are due by 12 September.

Smart Energy Council Chair John Grimes has given an address to the National Press Club.

NRM Regions Australia has released a recording of a webinar providing an update on the Nature Repair Market, with speakers from NRM Regions Australia, DCCEEW, and the Clean Energy Regulator.

The BCSDA has released a recording of a conversation between chief executive Andrew Petersen and IKEA's Karen Pflug and Renea Robson, on the role of a sustainability officer in 2025.

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 agriculture. Comments are due by 8 August.

The Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer has released a report on a draft method that takes into account climate change when making available water determinations (AWDs).

AWDs are yearly allocations of water to licensed users, specifying how much water they can take from a water source. 

The NSW government is providing a total of $2.8 million to five companies to subsidise the installation of another 549 kerbside EV chargers in 22 local government areas.

Engie has released a draft rehabilitation plan for rehabilitation of the Hazelwood coal mine.

The company says that, in the mid-2000s - in response to the millennial drought - it investigated a solution involving only partially filling the pit with water.

However, the investigation showed that a partial lake "is not feasible and only a full lake satisfies the mining licence rehabilitation criteria".

It will take until about 2035 to fully fill the mine void, the plan shows.

Last month, EnergyAustralia released a rehabilitation plan for its Yallourn mine, which said it would take about 24 years to fill the pit to the required level. 

The Victorian government has issued a planning permit to Iberdrola for the $270 million 200MW/400MWh Mount Doran battery energy storage system. The project was assessed under the streamlined Development Facilitation Program.

The Essential Services Commission is seeking applications from auditors to conduct independent audits for the Victorian Energy Upgrades program.

The Commission is seeking auditors to conduct compliance and assurance audits, and audits of annual energy acquisition statements.

EPA Victoria is considering a development licence application made by Yarra Valley Water for a water recycling plant that would initially produce up to 10ML a day of Class A water.

The agency is also considering a development licence application by A&J Australia Pty Ltd to establish a recycling facility for intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) and plastic drums.

On Tuesday, 24 June 2025, a Victorian record was set for the highest amount of energy generated from wind, says a new update from the Net Zero Economy Authority.

A record breaking 94,586 MWh of power was generated from wind energy in Victoria, providing 60% of Victoria’s electricity demand, the NZEA says.

A new $20 million round of Powering Business grants will soon be on offer in South Australia.

Applications for grants of up to $75,000 to invest in energy efficiency equipment will open later this month for organisations with up to 199 employees.

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 Appeals Convenor last week dismissed an appeal launched in 2020 by the WA Conservation Council.

The Conservation Council had argued that a 2019 licence granted to Chevron for the Wheatstone project had inadequate conditions, because it failed to abate greenhouse gas emissions.

In dismissing the appeal, the Appeal Convenor referred to advice from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER).

According to the Convenor, DWER advised "that it did not agree with [the] appellant's assertion that the emission of greenhouse gas from the premises constitutes 'pollution' or 'serious or material environmental harm' (as defined in the Environment Protection Act) if all that could be established is that activities from a prescribed premise have added incrementally to the cumulative global problem of greenhouse gas emissions".

Despite dismissing the Council's appeal, the Appeals Convenor acknowledged that it is uncertain whether the WA EPA's expectations on greenhouse gas emissions reductions at Wheatstone will be achieved, under current policy settings.

Existing policy settings leave the regulation of emissions from large projects in WA entirely to the federal Safeguard Mechanism.

"It is unclear whether the EPA's expectations for greenhouse gas emissions will be achieved via the Safeguard Mechanism alone," the Convenor's report acknowledges.

"There is currently no climate change legislation in Western Australia to provide guidance on these matters," the Convenor adds.

The Convenor points out that the Climate Change Bill 2023 would have required the preparation of an Emissions Reduction Strategy, but the Bill lapsed in 2024.

Having an Emissions Reduction Strategy would assist in assessing and regulating greenhouse gas emissions, the Convenor's report notes. 

The Minister has rejected the appeal in line with the Convenor's advice.

New listings are in blue.

The International Court of Justice is set to deliver an Advisory Opinion on the Climate Obligations of States on 23 July.

"All expectations are that the opinion will be a lengthy one, with experts on the look out for how the Court treats climate science, whether the Paris Agreement is exclusive in its coverage of states' climate obligations and any mention of rich countries' responsibility for historical emissions," according to Jacqueline Peel, director of Melbourne University's Melbourne Climate Futures.

The ICJ ruling comes in the wake of a decision earlier this month by Latin America's highest human rights court, which held that countries in that region are legally obliged to protect people from climate harms, and that the obligation includes tougher government regulations for fossil fuel extraction.

An international alliance of regional governments has jointly urged more national governments to give their state and regional governments powers to introduce carbon pricing – "whether through levies, taxes, cap-and-trade or other mechanisms".

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