Lisa Fedorenko

Thanks for the mention! ACCUs are gaining traction, especially with their high standards and global demand. At Carbon Capital Corporation, we see them as key to helping companies meet their sustainability goals. I am looking forward to continuing the conversation around global carbon market trends

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Mugged by reality! Nice title and a great article by Chris Uhlmann. Uhlmann has nailed a number of problems with Australia's current approach to the energy transition and mitigating the impacts of climate change. First and foremost - the biggest issue we face is energy security and affordability. Energy is fundamental to our economy and standard of living. One of Australia's natural advantages should be energy abundance translating through to ultra-competitive energy prices. When gas sells for US$2/GJ in the US but US$10/GJ in Australia and our wholesale electricity prices are some of the most expensive in the developed world - we seem to have messed this up. Is it any wonder that industry is struggling to remain competitive and households are struggling to pay their energy bills. To be clear - this is not an argument against renewables. Wind and solar are going to play a key role in the energy mix and energy transition. Only the idealogues like our Minister for Climate Change make this a competition between energy sources - the reality is we need them all if we are going to transition to net zero. The key word here is transition - this takes time. As Uhlmann notes, Chris Bowen seems to be gradually realising the importance of gas in the energy mix. Gas is much cleaner burning than coal, and is capable of providing peaking and back up power when intermittent renewable energy is unavailable. On a global scale, the single biggest reduction in CO2 emissions has come from the US conversion from coal to gas fired power over the past two decades. Cheap gas is also crucial for Australia to maintain a competitive industrial base. The problem is that despite abundant gas resources - we are actually running out of available gas supply. The speed of the decline of the massive Bass Strait gas resource in Victoria appears to have caught most people by surprise. The state is now looking at LNG imports to make up the shortfall, which is so strange when Victoria still has a ban on onshore gas exploration and development. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon - and that's the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory. Tamboran Resources Corporation recently released flow test results from Shenandoah South well which showed that gas could flow at commercial flow rates. The Northern Territory seems to get it, and is being highly supportive of the project including signing an off-take agreement with Tamboran. Now we just need our Federal government and the Qld, NSW and Vic governments to also see the light! What we also need is a change of approach on nuclear. We've still got 26 years to reach the arbitrary 2050 net-zero target. Plenty of time to build a nuclear power fleet. But that's a topic for another post. #energytransition #naturalgas #climatechange #decarbonisation #energysecurity https://lnkd.in/g6MypXaP

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Climate tech, impact and energy transition are some of the most active fund thematic I'm seeing amongst asset managers. Whilst impact funds attracted just $23.8 billion of total private capital raised (led by a couple of mega funds), there are some major drivers that asset managers are now not only actively exploring this space, but launching their own funds: 🌎 Pension funds, corporates, insurances and endowments increasingly have sustainability, green and ESG criteria they have to meet in their portfolio; 🌎Private capital allocation to sustainable strategies is increasing and becoming crucial not only to portfolio creation, but performance; 🌎ESG and sustainability are regarded as major drivers of value creation and exit value- up to 70% in most cases- it's a serious risk mitigation and diversification strategy. 🌎EU and US regulatory frameworks are now playing into capital allocation, with 56% of investors having refused a GP based on ESG grounds 🌎In public markets, sustainable funds have beaten fund returns by a median return of 10.9%. With climate, impact and energy now covering well-trodden sectors including infrastructure- this is starting to actively translate to PE/VC 🌎Some strategies such as ODDO BHF plan to allocate to funds and co-investments- giving a potential exposure to over 2000 companies significantly improving the potential upside.

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While disappointing, recent climate disasters indicate that the effects of emissions might be speeding up faster than expected. While I still have my reservations about CCS, we might be fast approaching a stage where reductions through reduced consumption, renewables etc might not be enough even as hydrogen etc likely scale only from 2045 onwards. Alongside rewilding large parts of the planet and stopping deforestation if possible, DAC and Point capture might become an unhappy necessity

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DFIs Are Found Wanting “Investment managers say there is a deeper problem — that DFIs at heart act like private investors, not catalysts for other investments, and their bureaucratic processes deter rather than attract other funds. Infrastructure investment is intrinsically tricky. It’s typically long-term and involves political as well as commercial risk, especially with essential public utilities like power and water, and hence requires detailed information and precise regulation in the recipient country.” Coming on the eve of Annual Meetings these challenges resonate. Despite being intractable, this is all fixable - changing the incentives and culture will go a long way. Until then, the sizeable gaps remain. #TripleBFramework

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🌿🇦🇺 Big news for Australia's climate action journey! 🚀 Yesterday marked a historic milestone as the Senate passed groundbreaking legislation mandating climate reporting for our largest companies and financial institutions, starting January 1, 2025. 📊🏢 This is not just a small step - it's a giant leap for financial reporting and auditing in Australia! 🦘💼 Key points: - Affects both listed and unlisted companies 📈📉 - Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) to finalize reporting standards 📝 - Australian Auditing and Assurance Board (AUASB) working on assurance standards, expected later this year 🔍 But wait, there's more! 🎉 1️⃣ The NZEA Bill establishes an independent authority to guide our transition to a decarbonized economy. 🌱💪 2️⃣ Australia aims to reduce emissions to 43% of 2005 levels by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050. 🎯♻️ 3️⃣ The government is investing $189.3 million over four years to resource this initiative. 💰 4️⃣ Support for workers, First Nations communities, and public engagement are key focuses. 👷🏽‍♀️👨🏾‍🏫🤝 This is more than just numbers - it's about shaping a sustainable future for all Australians. Let's embrace this change and lead the way in climate action! 🌍 Reach out to see how Agtuary can help you prepare & connect you with our advisory partners! → https://lnkd.in/eR8RiYm5 #ClimateAction #AustralianBusiness #Sustainability #NetZero #FinancialReporting

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Given the growing demand for carbon credits…look no further than Midway Limited (ASX: MWY). For credible Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) speak to Midway Limited. #carbon #sustainability #environment #emissions #mining #miningandresources Voluntary carbon credit demand to skyrocket https://lnkd.in/gQZ6JtNE

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Disruptive Theme of the Week - Rare Earths and Critical Materials are "critical" for the energy transition. Read all about which ETFs offer exposure. https://lnkd.in/gcJVjV6h #rarearths #criticalmaterials #etfs CRIT – ETF (NYSE) Rare Earths & Critical Materials ETF VettaFi

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Delighted to announce WTW’s involvement in the successful completion of a first transaction providing the opportunity to scale finance for carbon removals. The precise and novel structure of this transaction helps to overcome significant barriers when providing finance to carbon removal project developers like UNDO. Working with Standard Chartered, British Airways, CUR8 and CFC has shown significant potential for scale across removal methods by unlocking the amounts of finance needed for projects, and helping to de-risk finance. Read the announcement here: https://lnkd.in/e6CbCNBr Carbon removal methods play a pivotal role in combatting climate change, which need to scale at pace to support global climate commitments. These ground breaking projects require equally innovative financing and insurance solutions to match. WTW is proud to have worked with all key stakeholders in this achievement to help inventive climate technologies and concepts become reality, in turn driving the development of sustainable solutions into the future. Find out more about our solutions for the carbon market: https://ow.ly/U5GW50TlPwB #WTWFinancialSolutions #CarbonMarket #GreenEconomy #CarbonInsurance

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This week Australian Sustainable Finance Institute published a summary of the feedback on its first batch of climate change mitigation criteria. They also published 71 submissions received. I scratched my head on the comment,“ASFI received strong positive feedback that the criteria put forward for the first three priority sectors was credible and broadly usable” given no such question was asked in relation to Buildings. In fact, the Buildings' questions seemed deliberately designed to avoid the opportunity for comment on the credibility of the criteria. This is important because currently the largest share of private sector sustainable finance is going into financing the purchase of existing ‘green’ buildings, which does nothing to achieve Australia’s emission reduction targets, a stated objective of the Taxonomy. What really caught my eye was the comments in relation to the use of gas and the application of Technical Readiness Level (TRL) to rule Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) out of scope. Given there are currently no commercial 'abated' gas electricity generators the approach adopted by ASFI made sense. Yes, there is plenty of CCS going on, but it is expensive, frequently doesn’t work, and only 3% of the captured CO2 is being permanently stored, with the rest being used for enhanced oil recovery or flared. All of which leads to the submission from the Australian Energy Producers (AEP), the peak body for gas producers. AEP’s submission contains a case for treating all gas as a transition activity and 'abated' gas electricity as ‘green’. Their arguments contain some truths and a lot of half-truths, particularly regarding the treatment of gas in the EU Taxonomy. There is one thing in the AEP submission that bugs me. It says, “The emissions intensity of natural gas power generation without CCS is typically around 0.350tCO₂-e/MWh. With CCS capturing and permanently storing over 90% of CO₂ emissions, the abated emissions intensity of natural gas falls to about 0.035tCO₂-e/MWh.” This calculation overlooks the fact that CCS typically uses 15% to 40% of the energy produced. So, the true number is somewhere between 0.041 and 0.058tCO₂-e/MWh, 17% to 67% higher than the number quoted by AEP. I know this is kind of like an argument over the colour of unicorns as there is no abated gas generation in operation, but I’m a pedant and it goes to the credibility of the AEP. The ASFI Taxonomy was always going to be a fight about gas. Gas was absolutely a viable transition strategy 20 years ago before the start of the climate change culture wars. That window of opportunity has closed. The carbon budget has all but disappeared and alternative technologies have matured. The argument that gas-fired electricity can be built ‘green hydrogen ready’ or the illusion retrofitted CCS will be commercially viable are simply chimera designed to prolong the use of fossil fuels in the energy system. #climatechange #ESG #responsibleinvesting #energytransition

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Funds claiming to be ‘net zero’, ‘Paris-aligned’ and ‘low carbon’ are proliferating. But do consumers and retail investors understand and trust these claims? Looking forward to hearing what this star-studded panel think, including the views of NZ climate luminary Dr Rod Carr, an Financial Markets Authority - New Zealand regulator perspective from Liam Mason and a global asset manager view from Julie Moret of Northern Trust. RIAA’s research shows that climate change is a significant factor in consumers’ ethical investment decision-making, and investment product providers are increasingly seeking to meet this demand through products that make climate-related claims. Are these products backing their claims up? We will talk about: -       How funds can credibly aim for meaningful climate action while meeting expectations on greenwashing, -       What funds are doing to deliver on their climate-related claims, -       The role of offsets in net zero transition plans, and -       Insight into RIAA’s Certification Program’s expectations for climate-related claims. #sdgs #climatechange #netzero Shalini Samuel Liam Mason Julie Moret Tori Huggins Wing Chiu, Anson Chan Natalia Tsurkova Dean Hegarty

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📰 Our readers loved this #superannuation story that came out in the FS Sustainability newsletter this morning: 💸 Stark differences in #ESG fund performance in FY24 reflect markedly contrasting portfolio strategies - but might add fuel to the anti-ESG fire, Rainmaker warns. Australian Ethical Investment and Nationwide Super topped the Rainmaker Information ESG league tables, while UniSuper saw mixed results. I spoke with Aman Ramrakha, who told me that the data highlights the fact that not all #sustainable options are as alike as a layperson might assume. Click the link below to find out why 👇 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gucbMQw9 💡🌱 Follow me and FS Sustainability for essential sustainability/ESG-related news, and keep on top of the trends and requirements in a fast-paced business landscape. #sustainability #sustainableinvesting #investment #socialimpact #business #responsibleinvesting #responsibleinvestment #investing #LinkedInTopVoices #financialservices #climatecrisis #climatechange #climate #netzero #news #breakingnews #climatenews #newsupdate 

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Looks like Macquarie Group's advisory business are getting into the private market secondaries arena hiring Steven Westerback to lead the initiative after previously leading secondaries as a Partner of long-standing independent private markets capital advisory firm Atlantic-Pacific Capital. Secondaries are an investment theme in private markets that will continue to grow and innovate across the globe, so its a good move for Macquarie Group to enter this segment of private markets, with already a growing business in private markets fund finance. Separately - turnover at private markets fund advisory and placement firms must be at an all time high - I don't know if anyone tracks this, but it seems like human capital departures are all over the place - both voluntarily and otherwise. Which placement firms will endure through this market cycle? There is also a resurgence of smaller and sub-5 person placement firms I have never heard of entering the market, and it seems like the highest number of placement firms will be around the hoop at SuperReturn Berlin this year. #capitalmarkets #alternativeinvestments #secondaries #fundmanagers #liquidity #limitedpartners #privatemarkets #privateequity #fundraising #hiring #macquarie https://lnkd.in/gyxSxAnN

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https://lnkd.in/gWvM3SKP Coverage from Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) Summit on the outcomes of the US Election. Rod Sims and Guy Debelle discuss what it means for Australian clean energy super power objectives with Marion Rae: https://lnkd.in/gj-e_i-5 Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) broad response has been that the Trump Presidency does not change the economic and investment case for climate action. Continuing to roll out renewable energy and investment in new industries would see Australians having an additional $7-8 trillion dollars in their wallets over the next 25 years compared to if we delay more clean investment and let global warming rip. Renewable power is the cheapest form of new electricity in the world and the industry now employs more people than coal, oil, gas and nuclear combined. While it will be a bump in the road, the Trump Presidency can’t stop the transition to clean energy the world started over 20 years ago. The shift to a clean economy remains the single biggest economic opportunity for our nation and the retirement savings of millions of Australians. We have the best clean energy resources in the world which will lower the cost of living and power bills, keep the lights on, and provide secure job opportunities. Australia requires a strong 2035 climate target to give investors the certainty they need to keep investing in Australia and ensure our nation doesn’t miss out on economic opportunities including jobs. We know that the failure to plan and act on climate change is already resulting in more extreme weather events, causing costly disruptions for our farmers, economy, businesses and local communities. On one hand we have a remarkable opportunity to get ahead of the curve to support and future proof Australia’s economy now, or otherwise risk further economic pain through a lack of investment and climate costs. With appropriate policy settings – including a strong 2035 carbon emissions target – we can continue building the industries of the future and help Australia become a clean energy powerhouse.

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While the path is anything but clear, a carbon constrained world is on our doorstep. We have been interviewing leaders in the field for an upcoming research piece - my recent AFR article provides a brief teaser to the work.

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A key theme of last night's Federal Budget was the unveiling of the Future Made in Australia program, with $23bn targeted at the energy transition sector (critical minerals and renewable hydrogen) to help achieve net zero. While this is certainly a welcome measure, the anticipated tax reform measures that we eagerly anticipate in the lead up to every Budget seem to have been taken outside of the budget process, to be progressed separately. There continues to be a focus on multinational tax integrity, with a number of previously announced tax measures being adjusted, deferred or discontinued. The expansion of the foreign resident capital gains tax regime, and the requirement to notify the ATO of certain transactions prior to execution, is significant and will impact (and likely, delay) a number of cross border transactions. Read more in our KPMG Australia Federal Budget Brief. KPMG Tax & Legal #budget2024 #taxteform

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ESG - BHP -BlackRock In a piece of research between BHP and BlackRock last year it was said: "By decarbonising its asset base the valuation discount applied to high carbon-emitting sectors can be first reduced and then eliminated." BHP this week published their decarbonisation update presentation. The trend is very apparent (see chart). New projects acquired or organically developed will now have to support the net-zero strategy. Is this a completely irrelevant event? Or will capital flows begin to reflect the positive transition as carbon taxes become increasingly relevant.... #sustainable #mining #netzero #decarbonization #edenam #esg

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