The 2024 AER Summit returns to Melbourne - Naarm, Kulin Nation
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Date
29–30 October 2024
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Location
Centrepiece, Melbourne
2024 Australasian Emissions Reduction (AER) Summit
Date
29–30 October 2024
Location
Centrepiece, Melbourne
The fully hybrid Summit will be returning to Melbourne in 2024, after three successful years held on Gadigal Country, Sydney.
The 2024 October Summit comes at a critical juncture as all political parties and independents prepare policies ahead of the election due in early 2025. Following the first year of the enhanced Safeguard Mechanism, the ongoing ACCU Review, and mandatory corporate disclosure implementations, the Summit offers a pivotal point of reflection on Australia’s evolving policy landscape.
CMI is seeking partners to support this event. Further details can be found in the prospectus.
Monday 28th October, 2024
Masterclass
Tickets sold separately.
Pre-Summit Drinks
Invitation-only networking event for event sponsors & special guests.
Tuesday 29th October, 2024
Change Makers Breakfast
Kickstart the two-day Summit Program with the Changemakers Breakfast, an informal panel discussion and networking event highlighting inspirational young people in the climate change space.
Available to in-person attendees only. Recording will be available after the event.
Welcome to Country
Opening Address | John Connor, CEO, Carbon Market Institute
Ministerial Keynote
Plenary One: Accelerating Policy and Investment
With just over five years until 2030, we take a look at gains made in the clean transition over the past five years, and at the policy frameworks and at the investment still needed to achieve and exceed 2030 emissions reduction targets. Join our opening Summit plenary for an overview on the state of global climate action and the path forward, presented by leading climate champions from science, policy, First Nations leadership and markets.
Plenary Two: Corporate Climate Perpectives
Join corporate leaders to discuss challenges in the corporate transition to net zero emissions. This panel discussion will provide insights into achievements, challenges, and opportunities in developing credible business strategies in a world of accelerating expectation, oversight and urgency.
1.1 POLICY: Establishing a National Removals Target
2024 has seen significant reports released by leading international climate change bodies around beyond value chain mitigation, and new research in the level of carbon dioxide removals needed after net zero to maintain a safe climate. The Revised Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting note that low investment reversal risk carbon removals must scale up one thousand-fold by 2050. This increase not only reflects a balance of emissions, but accounts for residual emissions. While Australia continues to make strides in decarbonising its industry, electricity and transport, this workshop will explore the role of a national removals target in supporting a resilient net zero trajectory.
1.2 FINANCE: Scaling Public & Private Finance
In November, COP29 – “the finance COP” – will deliver the new collective quantified goal on climate finance, which will replace the 2009 Copenhagen climate finance goal of USD100 billion a year channelled to developing countries by 2020. It is will now well recognised that private sector finance has an increasingly important role in supporting public finance for developing countries’ climate change mitigation and adaptation. This workshop will explore how private sector finance has an equally important role to play in supporting the global transition towards net zero.
1.3 INDUSTRY: Reformed Safeguard Mechanism: Current and Future Impact
Following the first year of reporting under Australia’s reformed Safeguard Mechanism, this panel will look at the impact of the reforms through project emissions reductions and changing corporate investment strategies from captured facilities. While the decreasing baseline will continue to capture greater numbers of industrial facilities in the mechanism, we explore the prospects of expanding the mechanism to include sectors such as electricity and transport, and how an economy wide carbon price through the mechanism can support Australia’s emissions reduction targets.
1.4 ENERGY: Securing Net Zero Generation
Electricity is Australia’s largest emitting sector, and while we currently have a target for 82% renewable power by 2030, remain challenges to achieve this remain around supply, firming, grid upgrades and ecological conservation. This panel will bring together industry experts to consider the opportunities in large scale renewable energy uptake, and how these are balanced with human rights, ecological protection and circular economy principles.
Christiana Figueres Oration
USA Keynote
Plenary Three: Policy
The Australian Government continues to progress an agenda of substantial climate-related policy reforms. However, as we enter a new election year, where have the shortcomings been and where is additional support through policy required? As the importance of just transition principles, sectoral decarbonisation pathways, adaptation funding and others continue to grow, this plenary session will explore how the next Australian Government can build on work already achieved, to continue accelerating Australia’s transition to net zero emissions.
2.1 RESOURCES: Greenhouse Gas Capture: Storage and Use
Fugitive emissions are some of the most difficult to eliminate in companies’ supply chains, and yet represent some of the “lowest hanging fruits” as far as emissions reductions are concerned. Equally, there is a well-acknowledged need to invest in enhanced removals technologies that will permanently store or remove lingering atmospheric greenhouse gases. This workshop will explore factors constraining the uptake of key technologies such as direct air capture and carbon capture and storage in Australia, as well as innovative solutions transforming these emissions into usable products.
2.2 TRANSPORT: Zero Emissions Transport
Transport is Australia’s third highest emitting sector, contributing roughly 21% to Australia’s total emissions profile. While the Government’s electric vehicle target and new vehicle fuel efficiency standards are supporting emissions reductions in light vehicles, longer distance transport continues to pose challenges for decarbonisation. Join this panel as we discuss the challenges and opportunities for decarbonisation in long distance freight and passenger transport, including rail, air and road.
2.3 STRATEGY: Ensuring a Just Transition
With the Net Zero Economy Authority Bill progressing through the Federal Parliament, Australia will soon have a formal authority to guide its transition to net zero emissions, while ensuring that workers in impacted industries are not left behind. This workshop looks at the role of just transition planning in supporting successful decarbonisation trajectories, while also considering important linkages and knowledge sharing opportunities at an international level.
2.4 SECTORS: Decarbonising the Built Environment
Australia’s built environment accounts for roughly one fifth of our emissions, and with a growing population decarbonising physical infrastructure is a clear priority. While innovators exist, they come against a challenging flux of market and policy conditions that often hinder rather than help essential low carbon innovations. This workshop will explore the policy puzzle pieces that must come together to support a decarbonised construction industry in Australia.
Plenary Four: Credible Corporate Engagement
ASIC’s civic penalty action win against Vanguard for greenwashing earlier this year highlights the genuine risk to business operations through false claims on climate impact. Parallel to this, “greenhushing” continues to grow whereby corporates are increasingly unwilling to engage with the carbon market due to concerns around accusations of greenwashing. The final plenary for Day One will explore how corporates can credibly engage with the carbon market, and indeed why that engagement is necessary for the growth and continued transparency of it.
Keynote presentation.
Wednesday 30th October, 2024
Investor Breakfast
Keynote
Plenary Five: Climate Change Q&A
In the style of Australia’s weekly ABC discussion program, Australian climate policy leaders will discuss the climate crisis, and the long-term national policy framework we need to scale up mitigation efforts to meet Australia’s fair share of global climate action.
Ministerial Keynote
Plenary Six: Scaling Nature Positive
The World Bank estimates that annual nature investment needs to scale up to USD700 billion over the next decade, up from current levels of roughly USD120-140 million per year. Following the inaugural Global Nature Positive Summit, this plenary session will consider the changes required to achieve this monumental shift in financial flows, alongside increasing finance for projects that address both nature and climate change simultaneously.
3.1 BIODIVERSITY: Delivering Scalable Biodiversity Solutions
Ahead of COP16 under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity we look at the ecological impact of rapidly dwindling biodiversity and consider how policy frameworks can support the restoration of healthy, biodiverse ecosystems. This session combines lived experiences and high-level policy perspectives to offer a holistic discussion on the role of market-based solutions in supporting biodiversity improvements.
3.2 TRANSITION: Corporate Transition Planning
The Net Zero Economy Agency is establishing new expectations for businesses to assure their resilience in the climate transition. While the principles of a just transition are well known in their application to workers in climate-exposed industries such as mining, their application in the corporate scenario is equally important. This panel will explore how corporates can integrate transition planning into their broader climate change strategies, particularly as new governance requirements around investment, disclosure and education come into effect.
3.3 INVESTMENT: Facilitating Private Finance Flows
It is well acknowledged that private finance into climate solutions, adaptation and mitigation needs to increase substantially, but what are some of the practicalities of facilitating these flows? Join this workshop to hear from finance and investment experts on how they’re contributing to the climate transition, while still ensuring the economic feasibility of their investments.
Plenary Seven: Boardroom Masterclass
It’s often hard to navigate the twists and turns of boardroom strategy, particularly in the process of building consensus on climate-related strategy, risk and opportunity. Gather around our ‘mock boardroom’ table to see how our experienced board-level panel face and respond to a range of real climate scenarios, covering commercial risk, liability, litigation, and activism – and how to drive change within an organisation at the highest levels.
KEYNOTE
Plenary Eight: Trade Mechanism for Net Zero
There has been global consensus by the G7 leaders that we must reach a nature positive state by 2030 – a state in which species and ecosystems are being repaired and regenerated. With climate change as a key driver of biodiversity loss, what methods are being employed now to drive impactful nature repair at scale? How will biodiversity markets unlock finance, and what sectors are well positioned to make transformational change for the better?
4.1 POLICY: Article 6
With the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement at COP28 expected reveal even greater urgency, Article 6 and its associated carbon trading mechanisms will be vital for scaling action. 2023 marks 10 years since the commencement of the second period of the Kyoto Protocol, and with the transfer of Clean Development Mechanism activities to Article 6.4 still to be negotiated, we are at a critical turning point. Join us as we look at how Article 6 can deliver critical carbon abatement through international collaboration.
4.2 INDUSTRY: Circular Economy
Australia’s transport sector makes up almost one fifth of its emissions, with over half of those emissions coming from passenger cars. This workshop will delve into innovative approaches and technologies that can be employed to reduce this sector’s emissions. While EVs provide a pathway for significant reductions, the panel will consider the policy and investment opportunities for a holistic decarbonisation of the sector, including aviation and shipping.
4.3 STRATEGY: Building a Carbon Market Strategy
Rapidly evolving technology and data tools provide greater visibility into the supply chain of carbon credits. How are such tools providing greater security for both the supply and demand sides of the market? What impact does greater data visibility have on potential investment in decarbonisation? Our panel provides some examples of real data and technology solutions, and the impact they are having on transactions in the market. Discussion will include proposed initiatives such as the establishment of Environment Information Australia.
Keynote
Closing Plenary: The positive side of a net negative future
As we draw the Summit to a close, it’s time to look at what’s next – the upcoming challenges and opportunities that we will face in the coming weeks and months. We’ll share insights into the global stocktake of COP28, and a vision for 2035 built out of our 2023 Summit program. We’ll also look at the prospects for an Australia/Pacific hosted COP31 and the investment, social, Indigenous and environmental priorities ahead.
Closing drinks