Australia and US to boost collaboration on clean energy

Australia and the United States (US) have committed to enhance bilateral cooperation under a Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transformation Compact, establishing climate and clean energy as a central pillar of the Australia-US Alliance.

According to a joint statement from the PM of Australia and the President of the US, the Compact is a framework that intends to coordinate policies and investments to support the expansion and diversification of responsible clean energy and critical minerals supply chains, accelerate the development of markets for established and emerging technologies, meet the growing energy and adaptation needs of the Indo-Pacific and enhance the region’s role as a driver of resilient and sustainable global prosperity.

Under the leadership of Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water and the US National Security Council, Australia and the US have announced they will establish a dedicated forum on Clean Energy Industrial Transformation to set the core objectives of the Compact.

Through that mechanism, the countries said they intend to coordinate the implementation of their respective clean energy supply chain strategies and develop a new action plan by the end of 2023 to encourage stronger industrial collaboration and accelerate progress towards their climate goals.

Under the Compact, Australia and the US revealed they intend to:

• Accelerate the expansion and diversification of end-to-end clean energy supply chains.
• Promote a responsible, sustainable, and stable supply of critical minerals.
• Drive the development of emerging battery technologies to help ensure their nations can lead energy storage as they diversify their energy sources.
• Support the development of emerging markets for clean hydrogen and its derivatives in their respective countries and across the Indo-Pacific, including through dedicated conversations on coordinating their approaches to fostering dynamic clean hydrogen industries that utilise research and development, incentives and public-private partnerships.

To achieve the objectives, the countries noted they aim to:

• Engage critical minerals and clean energy industries to identify and address financial and non-financial barriers to accelerating and expanding development and deployment in their respective countries.
• Collaborate on projects and standards for clean energy supply chains to support the implementation of their domestic policy agendas, including in connection to the Inflation Reduction Act and the Powering Australia Plan, and boost the production of high-quality and sustainable clean energy products that are competitive in global markets.
• Promote robust emissions accounting methodologies for key sectors and products like hydrogen, hydrogen derivatives and green metals, including steel and aluminium, with a view to align standards subject to their respective domestic requirements.
• Assess their clean energy job projections and workforce requirements to identify areas where additional skills and training support is necessary to advancing their agenda.