GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION – AUSTRALIA

Woodside faces climate protest vote

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Original article by Giuseppe Tauriello
The Australian – Page: 15 & 18 : 15-Mar-23

Woodside Energy’s climate strategy will come under scrutiny again at its AGM on 28 April. Some 49 per cent of shareholders had voted against the oil and gas group’s climate report at its 2022 AGM. Climate activists contend that Woodside’s latest climate plan fails to address concerns that were raised in 2022. Meanwhile, Vision Super and Betashares have joined with the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility in calling for shareholders to vote against the re-election of Ian Macfarlane, Swee Chen Goh and Larry Archibald to Woodside’s board. They contend that the three directors should be held to account for the board’s repeated failure to present a credible climate strategy.

CORPORATES
WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, VISION SUPER PTY LTD, BETASHARES CAPITAL LIMITED, AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

FMG to spend $9.2b on switch to renewables

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 21-Sep-22

Fortescue Metals Group has outlined an ambitious plan to decarbonise its operations by 2030. Executive chairman Andrew Forrest has advised that Fortescue will invest some $US6.2bn ($9.2bn) between 2024 and 2028 on converting its operations from fossil fuels to renewable energy. He has indicated that annual spending over this period will not exceed 10 per cent of the earnings generated by Fortescue’s flagship iron ore business in any given year. Fortescue expects the investment to generate net operating cost savings of $US818m annually from 2030. The company aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Albanese calls Greens’ bluff on emissions target

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 17-Jun-22

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has formally informed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that Labor intends to cut carbon emissions by 43 per cent over 2005 levels by 2030. He says legislation to implement that target will be introduced when Parliament resumes on 26 July, along with a target of net zero emissions by 2050. Albanese will need the support of the Greens to get his legislation through the Senate, as the Coalition opposes legislated targets. Albanese has ruled out negotiating a higher target with the Greens, claiming that business groups deserve investment certainty after more than a decade of "dysfunction".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Fortescue signs deal for green haul trucks fleet

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 16-Jun-22

Fortescue Metals Group has struck a deal to buy 120 battery and hydrogen-powered haulage trucks for its iron ore mines in the Pilbara. The new clean energy fleet will replace about 45 per cent of the diesel-fuelled trucks at Fortescue’s mines. Sweden-based Liebherr will begin delivering the new vehicles from 2025. Fortescue’s current fleet of haulage trucks are estimated to account for about 26 per cent of its scope one and two emissions. Fortescue has a net-zero emissions target of 2030 for its Pilbara operations.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, LIEBHERR AG

Virgin pledges net zero emissions by 2050

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 8-Nov-21

Virgin Australia has committed to a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with Qantas having made a similar commitment in late 2019. Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka announced its pledge at an International Air Transport Association event, with the Association having voted for an industry-wide net zero commitment in October. Hrdlicka says that sustainable aviation fuels are crucial if airlines are to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but she adds that there is no sustainable aviation fuel industry in Australia at present.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Labor mulls broader emissions safeguard

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 8-Nov-21

Labor is still working on its climate policy in the lead-up to the next federal election, with shadow climate change minister Chris Bowen confirming that it will not include a climate tax or emissions trading scheme. Bowen has indicated that Labor will consider an expansion of the federal government’s ‘safeguard mechanism’, which requires large emitters to cut their carbon pollution. However, some Labor MPs are said to be wary of embracing the safeguard mechanism, due to concerns that it could make Labor vulnerable to a carbon tax-style scare campaign.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Morrison outlines $2 billion funding pledge to UN climate summit

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Original article by David Crowe
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 2-Nov-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used the COP26 climate summit to announce that Australia will contribute $2bn over five years to programs that will assist developing countries in the Pacific region to deal with climate change. He also reiterated the importance of technology in achieving net zero targets. Morrison noted that Australia has reduced its carbon emissions by 20 per cent since 2005, while the economy has grown by 45 per cent over the same period; he added that Australia’s emissions are on track to fall by 35 per cent by 2030, well ahead of its commitments under the Paris agreement. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the summit of a ‘doomsday’ scenario if action is not taken to address climate change.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Santos green-lights Moomba carbon storage

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 2-Nov-21

Santos has made a final investment decision to proceed with the Moomba carbon capture and storage project in South Australia. MD Kevin Gallagher says the project will permanently store 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, at a projected cost of about $US24 per tonne. Gallagher and federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor will make a formal announcement on the project at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Beach Energy has a one-third stake in the project.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, BEACH ENERGY LIMITED – ASX BPT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Fortescue sets ambitious new hydrogen goals

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 16 : 6-Oct-21

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has set a net-zero target date of 2040 for its scope 3 emissions. Fortescue’s plans to become a major player in the global hydrogen industry will be central to achieving the ambitious target. Buyers of Fortescue’s iron ore account for about 98 per cent of the group’s scope 3 emissions; this equates to around 246.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020-21. Fortescue has also set a target of 2030 for its mining operations to become carbon-neutral, while it has outlined plans to decarbonise its fleet of ore carriers.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Major miners push for net-zero

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 1-Oct-21

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable says the mining sector has embraced a net-zero carbon emissions target of 2050. She adds that carbon capture and storage technology will play a key role in the sector’s push to become carbon-neutral by the target date, including coal producers. Meanwhile, the federal government is set to expand the Emissions Reduction Fund and make large-scale CCS projects eligible for the carbon credit scheme.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA