A slightly delayed update in the aftermath of our Summit and AGM on Wednesday. A huge thank you to sponsors and participants of our largest ever Summit last week. We had:
- 1,300 delegates in person or online, a new record!
- Over 120 speakers, with close to half women
- Our strongest ever Indigenous voice
- largest exhibition space, with over 40 stands
There were 23 workshops and plenaries across the two-day event and recordings are available to delegates for another three months via the Cvent platform. Summaries of key issues and outcomes are below. There was passionate engagement across the themes of Urgency, Integrity and Ambition and related themes of opportunity, investability and accountability.
It’s been an extraordinarily busy period with, alongside Summit preparation, a tsunami of submissions and lively community debate. The ball is now with the Government, but CMI is clear Australia needs urgent and decarbonisation through a strong Safeguard Mechanism and credible corporate strategies. These need to integrate science-aligned decarbonisation trajectories as well as address current emissions through compensation, neutralisation or offsetting measures for emission reduction and other co-benefit outcomes.
CMI also suggested a raft of reforms to the Independent ACCU Review to ensure Australia’s carbon crediting framework has high integrity and is fit for purpose for greater private sector investments, which should come from Safeguard Mechanism reforms.
Ahead of the Summit, we released the results of the 9th Australian Business Climate Survey -thanks to those that participated. This year the Survey revealed a growing view that net zero emissions will need to be achieved earlier, and that a stronger focus on negative emissions should be central to Australia’s ambition. However, concerns about cost and integrity have risen alongside uncertainty about looming policy changes as business grapple with the scale of medium-term urgency needed.
At our AGM, CMI farewelled retiring board directors Elisa de Wit and Kobad Bhavnagri, joining Katharine Tapley who retired in July. All three completed their eligible two terms. Special thanks to all, but especially to Elisa for the last three years as Chair. I am of course delighted with our incoming chair Dr Kerry Schott AO. Kerry recently wrote in the AFR of the importance of integrity and coming government decisions – “By clarifying the governance and strategic outlook of Australia’s carbon market, this market will be better placed to facilitate the required scale of investment in industrial decarbonisation and other emissions reductions across the Australian economy.”
The AGM also elected Ilona Millar, Head of Climate Change and Sustainability, Gilbert and Tobin, to join the Board. One position has been held aside for greater Indigenous or cultural diversity representation.
Next week COP27 gets underway and we will once again be sending a delegation and be hosting or participating in a range of events. You’ll be able to keep track of these and our view on developments in our COP27 Hub.
We’ll be hosting a special Post-COP Symposium on the afternoon of 6 December in Sydney – stay tuned for details. Also for your diaries, we have confirmed 22 and 23 May 2023 in Cairns for the 6th Carbon Farming Forum and will hold our first regional Symposium in Singapore on 19 and 20 July.
It’s a time of great policy flux and dynamism here and internationally. Vital policy decisions will be made in coming weeks and months. We look forward to working with you to have them equal to the urgency that the escalating climate and biodiversity crises demand, as well as to realise the opportunities and solutions that Australia and the region can provide.
John Connor
CEO
Carbon Market Institute
