Low-carbon economy

Pleasure.

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Welcome back to Infrastructure Connections.

How can we increase the demand for low carbon and no carbon technologies? That's what we're learning today when speaking with Monica Richter.

Monica is the Senior Manager of Low Carbon Futures and Business Engagement Manager for Climate Change for the World Wildlife Fund Australia.

She's also Project Director for the Materials and Embodied Carbon Leaders Alliance.

Prior to that, she held roles at the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

At

our heart is the sharing of knowledge and information across different parts of the supply chain to drive those levers of change.

So, you know, we know if manufacturers want to invest in low carbon materials, they're going to have to invest in the innovation.

So it just makes sense that we have to find a revenue stream To do the necessary adaptation work.

Decarbonization's gonna take time.

We will get there, but in that time, we have to do the adaptation work, and that's gonna cost a huge amount of money, and I want that adaptation work to be effective.

To be effective, it's gotta be based on really high-quality research and development, and if you know anything about research funding, R&D funding in Australia, it's just not up to it.

But it's kind of the grid is being re-engineered from the household.

Decarbonization starts from the household or, uh, the road to decarbonization start, you know, starts with the household.

So you're re-engineering the grid from the household out, um, but, but the, but the next step has to be these bigger chunks.

And there's some regulatory barriers, and there's some inflation barriers, uh, and probably some, maybe not technology, but making sure that things don't fall over barriers in terms of h- uh, what do you do? And by the way, a great example, Lily D'Ambrosio, who's the state, uh, minister in Victoria for energy and climate action and so on, um, a- and, and she's actually, she also, um, has got this grid.

So Tom, what do operators gain by electrifying rigs?

Decarbonization, or at least the appearance of decarbonization, is the primary compelling reason for electrification in the oil and gas industry.

But this is a business decision, and if the business feels that it is well-served by decarbonization, then that's what they're gonna do.

In my opinion, that has not changed in the last 25 years appreciably.

That's an important point to have in mind.

Tom, if plugging into the grid doesn't necessarily mean clean energy, how important is electrification for decarbonization strategies?

Decarbonization is a source to end use problem.

It's not really important where gas is burned.

It requires strategic foresight, active participation in regulatory processes and a willingness to align corporate conduct with the broader social and environmental expectations that now shape global markets.

Companies that move early adopting robust ESG frameworks, integrating climate risk into corporate governance, engaging transparently with regulators and stakeholders, and aligning their strategies with a foreseeable decline in fossil fuel dependence will be better positioned to compete in the emerging low-carbon economy.

The outcomes of COP30 and the ICJ's advisory opinion do not merely outline the future of climate governance.

They announce a new era in which climate responsibility is inseparable from business strategy.