Victoria’s Andrews Government has recruited an expert panel to advise on an interim reduction target for 2035 as the state heads towards a goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
On Monday, Victorian Minister for Energy, the Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio announced the Interim Targets Independent Expert Panel, which consists of Martijn Wilder AM as Chair and Tennant Reed and Emma Herd as members.
Mr. Wilder is a Founding Partner of Pollination, a climate change advisory and investment firm and President of WWF Australia. He’s also a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a visiting Professor at ANU College of Law and a Governing Board Member of REEP (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership), which invests in clean energy markets in developing countries.
Mr. Wilder has previously been the Chair of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and was a founding Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
Tennant Reed is Principal National Adviser – Public Policy at Ai Group, which describes itself as a peak national employer organisation representing traditional, innovative and emerging industry sectors. Emma Herd is a Partner at EY working on climate change and sustainability.
On its way to net-zero by 2050, the Andrews Government announced last year it is to halve emissions by 2030. In terms of a renewables target, it aims for 50 per cent of electricity coming from renewables by 2030 after romping it in on a target of 25 per cent by 2020. Last year 32 per cent of the state’s electricity came from renewables, so it looks pretty well set up for the next target of 40% by 2025. The Victorian Government developed pledges outlining the actions it will take to cut emissions – and that’s where renewables and Victoria’s solar rebate came into play.
“Our nation-leading Climate Change Act puts robust science and analysis at the heart of our plans to tackle climate change,” said Minister D’Ambrosio. “We are proud to continue to be Australia’s net-zero leader by seeking independent, expert advice on an emissions target for 2035.”
It appears the Andrews Government has recruited a pretty knowledgeable trio to help it out on this. The panel’s final advice will be provided to Minister D’Ambrosio by 1 March 2023 and will be tabled in Parliament.
Substituting Gas, Getting Rid Of Coal
While Victoria’s efforts to reduce emissions through renewables such as wind and solar energy and other strategies have been impressive, there remains a very large and very filthy elephant in the room – brown coal fired electricity generation. The fossil fuel has a high moisture content and generates more carbon emissions than black coal; along with toxic heavy metals and chemicals such as sulphur dioxide, mercury, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.
Brown coal still makes up a large percentage of Victoria’s energy supply and showing it the door sooner rather than later (as these fine folks and others have repeatedly called for) would be a great contribution to carbon reduction efforts and generally improving human and environmental health.
Gas is also a major contributor to the state’s emissions. Last year, the Andrews Government kicked off a consultation process to develop the Gas Substitution Roadmap, which will detail the way forward to reduce fugitive emissions, use gas more efficiently, boost electrification and use of alternative gases such as hydrogen and biogas.
The Gas Substitution Roadmap is due to be released in the first half of this year.
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