CEFC welcomes new low carbon economy findings from ClimateWorks

30 July 2013

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has welcomed ClimateWorks' new major research project, Tracking Australia's Progress towards a Low Carbon Economy.

CEFC CEO Oliver Yates said the ClimateWorks research provided a crucial benchmark for Australia, highlighting areas of the most effective activity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and analysing the factors driving that success.

"This is the first time national data across economic sectors has been collected in a comparable way, and as such, it is a foundation for tracking Australia's progress."

ClimateWorks found many projects with high upfront costs would not be implemented due to the high degree of uncertainty and difficulties in attracting finance. This helped point to areas where the CEFC could play a unique role, catalysing private sector investment funds and working with other government programs to produce significant energy savings and cost-effective abatement over years to come.

"These findings highlight the importance of the CEFC's unique ability to catalyse change. They document the results realised by programs formerly funded by Low Carbon Australia, now integrated into the CEFC, in helping uptake of low carbon technologies across the commercial property, industry and manufacturing sectors," Mr Yates said.

"For example, carbon abatement resulting from Low Carbon Australia's investment in lighting, street lighting and air-conditioning technologies is predicted to increase almost fivefold over four years to 2014. The CEFC can deliver these sorts of outcomes at nationally significant scale."

Mr Yates said the potential for the CEFC to achieve these transformations nationally represented a tremendous opportunity for the Australian economy and for an efficient and highly productive low carbon future.