National Australia Bank (NAB) today welcomed the publication of the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative’s first report into opportunities for five industry supply chains – steel, aluminium, liquified natural gas, chemicals and other metals – to transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

NAB is a founding partner of the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative, which was launched one year ago as a platform for Australia’s industry and related businesses to work collectively towards net zero emissions by 2050.

NAB Executive Corporate Finance, Connie Sokaris, is NAB’s representative on the Initiative. She said the report showed that either existing and emerging technology can address almost all emission production in these supply chains and will help NAB support its customers to develop or improve their low carbon transition plans.

“Our customers are working towards lower emissions and this analysis will be a crucial input into developing transition plans that ensure environmental sustainability and create new opportunities and jobs,” Ms Sokaris said. “As Australia’s biggest business bank, we are committed to being part of the discussions on how Australia can get to net zero as a leader in sustainable technology.”

The report is the first of three phases of analysis by the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative. They will all analyse how the five high-emitting industries, which collectively contribute 12.3% to Australia’s GDP, generate exports worth over $160 billion per annum and employ 2.9% of Australia’s workforce, can transition to net zero. Phase two will identify and articulate the potential timing and scale of technology deployment and phase three will develop priority actions.

Themes from the phase one report, Setting up Industry for Net Zero, include:

• Australia must capitalise on emerging low-carbon technologies and energy exports, such as green hydrogen and steel, and rapid deployment of existing technology solutions.
• The transition will require significant investment, leadership and transformation of the energy system.
• Access to affordable renewable electricity and economically competitive production of green hydrogen will be crucial.
• Short-term decarbonisation of existing operations and associated infrastructure will be challenging.

Read the phase one highlights and technical reports here.

NAB announced last year it is aligning its business operations and lending portfolio to help customers achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The bank is an inaugural signatory of the United Nations’ Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s (UNEPFI) Principles for Responsible Banking and is the only Australian bank to sign UNEPFI’s Collective Commitment to Climate Action.

RELATED READING: Read more here about how NAB is building a team of climate experts to support the low carbon transition plans of its biggest greenhouse gas-emitting customers.

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