One of the less reported commitments in Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech in May, was to water down mandatory climate reporting obligations for large Australians companies. 

Mr Dutton said the Liberals would not force large firms to spend money, “policing the emissions of every small business they deal with.”

Mandatory climate reporting is being introduced from January 2025 for very large Australian companies, with all large companies expected to report within three years. This will require the disclosure of risks and opportunities to companies from climate change, as a measure of economic resilience in a warming climate. Companies will also be required to disclose their scope one, two and three emissions.

It is this latter category that Mr Dutton referred to, with scope three including the emissions of a company’s supply chain. For example, scope three for an electric vehicle tells us whether the nickel in the battery was mined and refined using coal, as it is in Indonesia, or renewables and gas, as it has been in Australia. 

But, irrespective of what we do, any Australian company with international listings, ownership, operations or markets is likely to be required to report on scope three.  Both the European Union and the United Kingdom require this now, as does California, the biggest economy in the United States and fifth biggest in the world.

Meaning mandatory climate reporting would likely prove resilient to a second Trump presidency. Even if not a Dutton prime ministership.

This article also appeared in The West Australian newspaper.

 

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