We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
Manufacturing Australia appears broadly unsupportive of ambitious action on climate change and any support for specific pieces of climate policy is often qualified by market-based considerations. In 2018, Manufacturing Australia supported the development of a practical energy policy framework; however, it has also stated that interventions should be temporary and advocated for an approach to emissions reduction based on market measures in 2019. Manufacturing Australia's lobbying on specific climate policy is mixed. Between 2016 and 2019, the organisation has expressed support for the Emissions Reduction Fund, the Renewable Energy Target, the safeguard mechanism and the National Energy Guarantee, but qualified this support with the need to protect trade competitiveness and the economic interests of carbon-intensive industries. In 2019, Manufacturing Australia also opposed regulations on energy efficiency and lobbied against the moratorium on gas development. Although Manufacturing Australia recognises the importance of an energy transition, it has consistently advocated for the sustained role of natural gas in the energy mix. In 2018, it also lobbied government for the continued operation of the Liddell coal plant.