This article first appeared in The Age on 15 January 2020.

For decades persistent scientific and economic warnings that Australia is on the frontline of climate change has fallen on too many deaf ears in Canberra. So it’s only natural that many Australians now hope that this devastating bushfire season will shake our leaders out of their apathy and open the door for a more constructive approach to climate change.

The Australian extractive sector has a critical role to play in delivering the resources needed to deliver a prosperous low carbon economy. As vocal supporters of the Paris Agreement investors have called upon global leaders and governments to strengthen nationally determined contributions to meet the global emissions reduction goal and to do this by 2020. We now call on companies to do more to direct their trade associations and industry bodies in enabling Paris aligned policy.

For long term institutional investors, the mitigation of climate change is essential to safeguard investments. A smooth transition to a low carbon economy requires governments to implement effective policy mechanisms, by providing the right incentives to support investment in low carbon assets while supporting communities in the changes that such a shift will engender.

Companies need to contribute constructively to that process. Companies should be consistent in their policy engagement with governments and ensure any engagement conducted on their behalf via industry bodies is aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The funding of organisations undertaking lobbying in contradiction with companies’ own stated positions is a real concern which presents material business risks.

Read the full Letter

This article first appeared in The Guardian 07 May 2019.

The current election campaign discussions on climate change fails to address the real challenges that face the nation. The super partisan nature of the debate and the focus on mythical costs of action risks significantly harming our prosperity and resulting in another decade of squandered economic opportunity.

This article first appeared in The Guardian 21 February 2019.

As we head into another cycle of climate change politics beware the economic doomsayers whenever Australia starts to have a serious conversation about addressing climate change headlines appear in newspapers of an economic apocalypse.
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On February 15, the Energy Security Board released a Consultation Paper for input on the development of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG).

It builds on the high level proposal released in October 2017, setting out a framework to apply an emissions obligation and a reliability obligation to energy retailors.
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This article was first published on Renew Economy on 14 December 2017. If the previous decade has seen the climate change space occupied by activists, scientists, denialists and fossil fuel companies, a coordinated push from investors for derisked portfolios, is setting the stage for a very different 2018 and beyond.

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This article was first published on Renew Economy on 21 September 2017. Australian institutional investors have a strong appetite for low carbon assets, but policy uncertainty and a lack of scalable deals are major barriers.
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This article was first seen in The Guardian, 14 March 2017.

Talk to any investor these days about climate and energy policy, and the level of frustration is evident. Current policy paralysis has stalled investment in additional renewable energy generation that is needed to replace ageing infrastructure, with cost implications for all Australians. (more…)

The Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) has been promoting better corporate disclosure on climate change for over a decade.

Climate change, and carbon risk, is a foreseeable financial risk. There are now clear international and national policy pathways, with probable market and technological implications and flow through physical risk impacts.

In the next 20 years, at least USD 7.7 trillion is needed for renewable energy and energy efficiency markets to meet the demands of China, India, Japan, and South-East Asia if the world is to reach its target of staying ‘well-below’ the agreed 2°C warming target.

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