Towards net zero through collaboration

By  Grace Kirkby 12 July 2024 4 min read

Achieving the goal of net zero emissions with the urgency required is going to take collaboration and coordinated action right across the economy and society. There is strong interdependency between decarbonisation in different economic sectors and the way sectors change will impact the communities that depend on them. 

Collaboration will be at the heart of how we achieve a prosperous transition for all. Our Towards Net Zero Forum brought together leaders from government, industry, and communities across Australia to help us understand how we, Australia’s national science agency, can support an accelerated net zero transition.

Supporting accelerated transition

Forum delegates were diverse so, unsurprisingly, the messages were diverse. However, there was a consistent desire to step into the opportunity the net zero transition presents for Australia. While there was a quiet sense of optimism, there was agreement this will be hard and will require all our efforts.

Understanding the scale of the challenge

The net zero transition is a deeply systemic challenge. To navigate the dependencies through supply chains, and the opportunities for co-benefit creation, we looked at value chains and place-based transformation.

Value chains 

Technological and market opportunities for value chains can give us the means to reduce emissions. In Australia, our hard-to-abate sectors like steel, aviation, and agriculture face unique challenges and opportunities. For example, Australia’s bioresources could provide strategic competitiveness for a sustainable aviation fuel industry. 

Place-based transformation

Looking into our communities from the ground up can help us understand how decarbonisation will intersect with things we value. Place-based initiatives highlight how net zero transformation can create new opportunities for regional prosperity and value for communities. Gladstone's renewable energy projects and Bega Valley's circular economy initiative demonstrate how localised efforts can drive broader national progress.

Net zero and productivity are intertwined

Australia’s current prosperity has come from emissions intensive industries, but our future will rely on how these industries transform. Australia is well positioned to seize the opportunities and industries that a low emissions global economy brings.

Emeritus Professor Roy Green spoke about how sustained productivity and net zero goals are intertwined – one can’t be achieved without the other.

"Everything in successful public policy depends on building the skills and knowledge base of the economy, so we can create the jobs and industries of the future," Roy said.

"Innovation and skills are critical to transforming our industrial structure, increasing productivity growth and achieving net zero."

Engaging diverse perspectives

We asked different experts what the transition to net zero means for them. Perspectives came from subject matter experts across industry, science and research who are investigating ways to reduce emissions across hard-to-abate sectors. We also heard from community leaders who understand the sentiment of Australians.

Helen Steel, CEO of South East Councils Climate Change Alliance, said we will be adapting to climate change and its impacts while creating the means for reducing emissions. 

"Local governments are feeling the real impacts of climate change, and they’re also the gateway to understanding community impacts and perspectives," Helen said.

We need to build the capacity of these groups to voice their needs. And we need to ensure this sentiment informs the pathways to net zero and the way we build the infrastructure for the transition.  

Young people and their future

Importantly, we heard from young people working across agriculture, youth representation, and Indigenous community engagement. Our young people will live with the consequences of the decisions and actions of today.   

Youth delegates stressed research is an investment by the present into the future. They expressed loud and clear that collaboration and reciprocity in relationships will be key elements of a successful and equitable transition. 

Tiahni Adamson, Lead Community Engagement Officer at CH4 Global, was part of our Young Perspectives on Climate Change and the Transition panel. 

"Consultation should be about building connections and relationships. It should be ongoing and there should be accountability to communicate impacts back to communities," Tiahni said.

Other key issues our young Australians shared included:

• The need for climate-ready and net zero economy-ready education and jobs
• Awareness of intergenerational climate equity and the risks of inaction
• The essential role of youth engagement in creating a future that addresses their needs and harnesses their innovative potential.

Important role of science and technology

Nick Palousis, CEO of 2XE, told the delegation that science and technology have a crucial role in enabling and accelerating the transition. 

"We need to get more science and confidence into business," Nick said.

But technology creation alone is not enough and must come together with the other elements needed for industry change. For example, the steel industry’s transition from blast furnaces to gas to hydrogen requires coordinated action. This will involve technology availability but also energy supply, market creation and enabling policy and regulation.

An important role of science is to partner with industry to de-risk technology choices, which can often be in very significant cost steps. Delegates highlighted the role science can play in creating value chain awareness of technological readiness and help bring together the different industry groups needed to build a new industry.  

Mobilising finance for the transition

The net zero transition requires substantial financial investment to develop these demonstrators and scale technologies. The forum showed science gives finance and the market confidence to act and invest.

It is crucial to create the right regulatory environment and foster collaborations to help mobilise finance. Learning from international investment practices and applying novel solutions to financing the transition will be key to supporting large-scale decarbonisation efforts.