Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) has a high level of engagement with climate policy. The association displays largely negative positions on climate-related policy and the energy transition in Australia, generally advocating a technology-neutral approach that appears to include support for a prolonged role for fossil gas and oil and a future role for nuclear alongside renewables.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: SACOME displays very limited top-line messaging on climate policy. In an August 2023 consultation submission, the association emphasized that its climate change policy “unequivocally” supports a target of net zero by 2050.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: SACOME’s transparent engagement with climate-related policy is largely negative. The associations consistently showed unsupportive positions on Australia’s Safeguard Mechanism reforms. For example, SACOME advocated for a delayed implementation of the reforms in a February 2023 consultation submission while also suggesting that the proposed baseline decline rate is too steep. In addition, the association emphasized a disproportionate impact of the reforms on hard-to-abate sectors, as well as consequences for export, domestic manufacturing and jobs in a May 2023 consultation submission.
While SACOME repeatedly referred to South Australia’s 2030 renewable energy target as an “important decarbonisation goal,” it also appeared to emphasize concerns around “rapid structural changes” caused by previous renewable energy targets in an August 2023 consultation submission, including the early retirement of thermal power generators and increases in wholesale energy prices. The association also appears to adopt unsupportive positions on specific energy efficiency legislation. For example, SACOME advocated for the abolition of South Australia’s Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme for large industrial customers in its November 2023 consultation submission on the state’s 2024–25 pre-budget priorities.
Positioning on Energy Transition: SACOME adopts negative positions on the energy transition in Australia, generally advocating a technology-neutral approach that appears to include support for a prolonged role for fossil gas and oil and a future role for nuclear alongside renewables. In an August 2023 consultation submission, for example, the association called for a technology-neutral approach to the energy transition, which includes support for hydrogen, fossil gas, renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS), while advocating for the continued exploration and development of oil and gas in South Australia. In addition, in a November 2023 consultation submission, SACOME appeared to favor nuclear over renewables in South Australia’s energy mix, highlighting concerns about the cost of a renewables-based energy system and stating that nuclear would reduce the need for more transmission lines and promote land use efficiency.
SACOME’s approach to the decarbonization of the steel industry consists of a mix of positive and negative positions. While the association called for policies to accelerate the development of breakthrough technologies to decarbonize the steel sector in a June 2024 media release, it also appears to support a continued role for fossil gas in direct reduction processes, with an unclear timeline for a long-term transition to renewable energy and hydrogen. For example, in a July 2024 consultation submission, SACOME advocated for the replacement of metallurgical coal with fossil gas and an expanded role for hydrogen in the steelmaking process without clarifying its position on the need for CCS or the transition away from fossil fuels, or its position on the decarbonization of hydrogen production.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the association’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically.
This summary was last updated in Q4 2024.