Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Australian Industry Greenhouse Network (AIGN) appears to have mixed support for climate policy in its top-line communications. It also appears to have mixed positions on specific climate-related regulations and limited engagement with the energy transition.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: AIGN shows mixed support for climate policy in its top-line messaging. AIGN appears to support the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in its comments on the Safeguard Mechanism Reforms in September 2022. However, support for government regulations by AIGN has repeatedly been qualified by stating that the regulations should not affect national or regional competitiveness, evidence of which can be found in AIGN’s comments on both the Climate Change Bill in August 2022 and Victoria’s 2035 GHG target in June 2022. The Climate Change Austhority reported in March 2020 that AIGN supported the use of Kyoto carry-over credits to meet Australia's emissions reduction commitment, thus weakening the overall ambition of the target.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: AIGN shows mixed support for specific climate-related regulations. AIGN expressed support for the Australian Climate Change Bill 2022 and its 2030 emissions target in it 2022 annual report. In comments on the Safeguard Mechanism Reforms in September 2022, AIGN appeared to support the policy with major exceptions. It appeared to support declining baselines but suggested they should recognize trade competitiveness. It also supported the use of high integrity international offsets and assistance for emissions-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) businesses. AIGN appears to be most actively engaged in policy on emissions trading schemes. In October 2021, CEO Susie Smith supported international emissions trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, stating that international carbon markets and offsets will be key to managing GHG emissions. AIGN also appeared unsupportive of Victoria’s 2035 GHG emissions target in comments made in June 2022,
Positioning on Energy Transition: AIGN shows mixed support for the transition of the energy mix, albeit with relatively limited engagement in 2022-2023. In a press release from September 2020, AIGN appeared to support the Australian Government’s funding commitment to support new and emerging energy technologies in order to support the transition to a low carbon economy. In an October 2021 webinar, however, AIGN CEO Susie Smith appeared to support a long-term role for oil and gas in the energy mix, without reference to the need for CCS. Smith was also a panel member for Australia’s King Review, which proposed weaker regulations for heavy emitters and more public funding for ‘clean coal technologies’ including use of carbon capture and storage in May 2020.