Climate change impacts have for many years been accepted as a relevant consideration in the assessment of planning and environmental applications in Australia. Until recently, the focus of consent authorities has been primarily on the direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a project from owned and ...

Consumers and investors are increasingly conscious of climate change risks, and more demanding of businesses to adopt sustainable business practices. This has led to an increase in 'green marketing', which includes statements about environmental sustainability, carbon neutrality, recycling or impact ...

A number of states and territories have established schemes that provide electricity users with incentives to implement energy saving measures and which require electricity retailers to achieve energy saving targets. ...

As we move towards a carbon constrained future and electricity prices rise, companies are increasingly looking for ways to deliver on their carbon reduction commitments, including by purchasing electricity from renewable sources, managing their exposure to changing electricity prices and supporting ...

A new environmental protection regime in the Northern Territory will commence imminently. The Environment Protection Act 2019 and Environment Protection Regulations 2020 (NT) will commence on 28 June 2020. All operators and proponents should prepare for commencement of this new regime. In particular, proponents with projects currently being assessed under the Environmental Assessment Administrative Procedures 1984 should take advice regarding how their assessment will complete upon the commencement of the new regime. ...

In the recently released Technology Investment Roadmap Discussion Paper, the Federal Government puts forward a proposed framework to govern the investment of public funds in the development of new technologies designed to lower emissions. ...

Shareholders are becoming increasingly aware of climate change risks. Since early 2017, both Australian and foreign companies have faced a wave of climate change-related shareholder activism. Ceres maintains a Climate and Sustainability Shareholder Resolutions Database, which at February 2020 showe ...

The 'just transition' is frequently used to refer to a framework for a transition to a low-carbon economy that takes into account the associated economic and social costs and opportunities. ...

Australia's 'green finance' market continues to grow steadily in response to global environmental challenges and to support sustainable development. Innovative financial products continue to be developed to direct capital towards green projects and to promote sustainability causes or ESG-related per ...

The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme requires some companies to account for the scope 1 and scope 2 emissions they are responsible for. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions for which a company is responsible, whilst scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the purchase o ...