With a revised safeguard mechanism and other climate policies now in place, the table is set for Australia to transition to net zero emissions. It can be successful with an all-in effort, including and especially from its highest emitting sectors.
Australia’s industrial sector accounts for 44 per cent of the country’s total emissions and will be vital in the overall effort to decarbonise. Decarbonising Australian industry at the scale and pace needed will be a big lift. But our research shows that deep emissions reductions could be made with strong ambition, coordinated action and government support.
Part of the answer lies in regional industrial hubs. These clusters of industry and energy infrastructure can pull together to make the transition quickly and efficiently.
This is part one of a two-part deep dive into strategies to decarbonise Australian industry. In this first episode, we explore the policy angles that can help one of the country’s highest-emitting sectors transition to net zero emissions.
Hosted by Kylie Turner, System Lead of Climateworks’ Sustainable Economies team, a panel of Climateworks experts unpack the findings from our recent industrial decarbonisation work, with a focus on the role of industrial precincts.
Rob Kelly, Industry team lead, presents the seminal findings from the final report for the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative that found industry can reduce emissions by 92 per cent by 2050.
You’ll also hear from Project Officer Joshua Danahay about scaling the transition through place-based approaches and how a focus on regional ‘renewable energy industrial precincts’ could kick start the decarbonisation of industrial supply chains.
Our team also answer your questions in a live Q&A.
This webinar was recorded on Tuesday 2 May 2023 at 3:30pm AEST.
Register to be in the audience for part two of this series
Related reports and resources
- Pathways to industrial decarbonisation – Positioning Australian industry to prosper in a net zero global economy – Phase 3 report
- Renewable energy industrial precincts: Scaling up industrial decarbonisation through a coordinated approach – a brief for policy-makers
You can also watch this and previous Briefing Room webinars on the Climateworks Centre YouTube channel.
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ABOUT THE PANEL

Rob Kelly
System Lead – Industry
Rob is the industry system lead and program director of the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (ETI) – a collaborative effort supporting industry and business leaders to collectively learn, develop research and take actions to move industry supply chains towards net zero emissions by 2050.
Rob has worked at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, KPMG and has been a working group member of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative.

Joshua Danahay
Project Officer – Sustainable Economies
Joshua works in the Sustainable Economies team on projects to support government and industry in the transition to net zero emissions, including Renewable Energy Industrial Precincts, a collaborative solution enabling regional industries to reduce emissions while maintaining existing industries and attracting new ones.
Previously, Joshua helped deliver educational projects in the renewable energy and electrotechnology industries and also worked as a consultant on automation projects.
HOST

Kylie Turner
System Lead – Sustainable Economies
Based in Climateworks’ Perth office, Kylie leads our Sustainable Economies system to find sustainable pathways towards net zero by supporting the development of ambitious goals and the strategies required to meet them.
Kylie was most recently the program impact manager for the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative, working with heavy industry, finance companies and government to develop decarbonisation pathways aligned to limiting warming to 1.5℃.