It’s Not Easy Being Green

Emissions reduction is not just a social obligation but a necessity as investment tilts towards lower emission suppliers. As an example, the 2022-23 Federal Budget committed a $120 billion 10-year infrastructure pipeline. The June 2022 Business Council of Australia Infrastructure in a world moving to net zero report provides a series of recommendations to address the way in which Government invests including the adoption of low carbon materials on public projects and options for reducing emissions during construction, understanding the whole of life emissions impact of infrastructure projects and potentially adopting the UK style PAS2080 standard on carbon management infrastructure, and a shift in procurement to lower carbon supply chains. If these considerations have not made it into business production and supply chain planning, they will soon.

Amongst other initiatives the Government have committed to:

• $20bn investment in Australia’s electricity grid to accelerate the decarbonisation.
• An additional $300m to deliver community batteries and solar banks across Australia.
• Up to $3bn investment in the new National Reconstruction Fund to support renewables manufacturing and low emissions technologies.
• Powering the Regions Fund to support the development of new clean energy industries and the decarbonisation priorities of existing industry.
• Double existing investment in electric vehicle charging and establish hydrogen refuelling infrastructure (to $500m).
• Review the effectiveness of the Emissions Reduction Fund that provides businesses with the opportunity to earn Australian carbon credit units for every tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent a business stores or avoids emitting through adopting new practices and technologies.
• New standardised and internationally-aligned reporting requirements for climate risks and opportunities for large businesses.
• Reduce the emissions of Commonwealth Government agencies to net zero by 2030.

In essence, business can expect directed funding for co-investment in emission reduction technology, Government spending to be through the lens of the renewed emissions targets, and for new funding opportunities to advance low emission technology.

But emissions reduction is not just about industry. Land use change can have a significant impact on emissions through reductions. For example, a reduction in forest clearing in 2020 reduced emissions by 4.9%. One initiative needs to go hand in hand with the other. 

In 2021, fossil fuels represented 67.5% (59.1% coal) of the total annual electricity generation and renewables 32.5% (an increase of 5% on the previous year with the spike contributed by small scale solar, and large scale solar and wind farms).