Joint Press Statement on EU-Australia energy relations

Issued by:

• Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy
• The Hon Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Climate Change and Energy
• The Hon Madeleine King MP, Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia

On 4 April 2024

1. The EU and Australia share an unwavering commitment to full and timely implementation of the Paris Agreement and to cooperation, bilaterally and in all relevant multilateral fora, to accelerate the global clean energy transformation, including deployment of renewable energy as the cheapest form of energy, and transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems so as to achieve net zero by 2050 and keep 1.5°C within reach.
2. The EU and Australia recognise that climate change represents a threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of our people. They share a steadfast commitment to accelerating the rollout of renewable energy to reduce cost of living pressures for households and delivering ambitious but achievable NDCs ahead of COP30 to safeguard the security and strategic independence of their people.
3. The EU and Australia welcome the finalisation of the first Global Stocktake at COP28 and reaffirm its outcomes, including the call for next nationally determined contributions to include ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. They intend to cooperate in implementation of the COP28 Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge, and on unlocking finance for the clean energy transition, particularly in developing countries. They look forward to continuing close cooperation on energy issues before and at COP29.

Electricity and energy efficiency

4. Both the EU and Australia are committed to taking ambitious strides to decarbonise their electricity systems. The EU, through RED III, is committed to a 42.5% share of renewables in its gross final energy consumption (including electricity and other forms of energy by 2030, with the ambition of reaching 45%. Australia has committed to reaching a share of 82% renewables in the National Electricity Market by 2030. The roll-out of modern, resilient, and flexible grid infrastructure, such as transmission infrastructure, is crucial for meeting these ambitious goals.
5. The EU and Australia recognise the importance of secure global supply chains to the global energy transformation and welcome Australia’s recently announced $1 billion federal investment in the new Solar Sunshot program, which will help Australia capture more of the global solar manufacturing supply chain, and the relevant provisions of the EU’s recently agreed Net Zero Industry Act, which will support scaling-up manufacturing of clean technologies in the EU.
6. The EU and Australia recognise the role offshore wind will play in reducing emissions, reducing costs, and protecting industrial jobs in regional areas, and welcome the measures being taken in the EU’s Wind Power Action Plan, the 6 Australian priority areas for offshore wind, and the strong engagement of European companies in the Australian offshore wind sector.
7. In line with the Global Stocktake, both the EU and Australia recognise the crucial contribution energy efficiency improvements must make to decarbonisation efforts.

Hydrogen

8. The EU and Australia recognise the important contribution of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives to the clean energy transition, providing opportunities for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors, including steel, aluminium, ammonia, chemicals production and heavy transport. They support the rapid development of a global hydrogen industry and establishment of reliable hydrogen supply chains. They welcomed Australia’s Hydrogen Headstart program and its commitment to refreshing the Australian National Hydrogen Strategy, and the EU’s work towards ambitious hydrogen targets under REPowerEU.
9. Both the EU and Australia take note of the importance of cooperating on hydrogen production, ensuring broad adoption of renewable hydrogen technologies, creating hydrogen hubs, and using renewable hydrogen primarily in sectors where direct electrification poses a challenge. They welcome the developed network of cooperation initiatives between the EU and Australia at the national and sub-national levels, and between ports and producers in the private sector.
10. The EU and Australia intend to foster rules-based, transparent, and undistorted global markets for renewable hydrogen and its derivatives based on reliable supply chains and certification schemes.

Social dimensions of the energy transformation

11. Both the EU and Australia are committed to a just transition that ensures full, effective and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples, as well as other groups particularly vulnerable to climate change and economic disadvantage, including women, and young people. They recognise the importance of fostering community approval and acceptance as this transformational change occurs, focusing on the opportunities for communities and maximising synergies with environmental priorities.
12. The EU and Australia must address the challenges of labour shortages, upskilling and reskilling and attracting new talent to clean energy transition jobs in order to meet their clean energy goals, including through the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act and its skills academies and Australia’s Net Zero Agency, focused on promoting orderly and positive economic transformation to ensure workers and regions benefit from the net-zero economy.

Industrial carbon management

13. The EU and Australia both further recognise the important complementary role that industrial carbon management, including carbon capture and use or storage and industrial carbon removals, can play in reducing or eliminating emissions from industries where other mitigation options are limited, noting the recent EU Industrial Carbon Management Strategy and Australian Carbon Capture Technologies Program in that regard.
14. The EU and Australia are open to further cooperation and collaboration on Industrial carbon management through policy and technology information sharing and knowledge exchange, building on ongoing work in current programs and initiatives that EU and Australia are joint members of.

Critical minerals for the clean energy transition

15. The EU and Australia recognise the critical importance of secure and sustainable critical minerals supply chains to the clean energy transition, among other sectors. They are committed to globally diversified, transparent and de-risked markets, to support sustainably and ethically sourced critical minerals, adhering to the highest environmental, social and governance standards.
16. They look forward to establishing a bilateral Strategic Partnership on critical minerals, and to continued close cooperation in the Minerals Security Partnership, the International Energy Agency’s Critical Minerals Working Party, and the Conference on Critical Materials and Minerals.

Global LNG markets

17. The EU and Australia look forward to continued cooperation on international energy security matters. They agreed the importance of ensuring efficient information exchange to support appropriate forecasting of future gas supply, noting the work the IEA is leading to develop an LNG Early Warning Mechanism. They agreed on the importance of stable LNG markets in ensuring global energy security and accessibility, particularly for middle-income countries in the Indo-Pacific. Australia remains firmly committed to its role as a reliable provider of secure energy to Indo-Pacific nations and other trade partners.

Methane emissions abatement in the energy sector

18. Noting methane’s high global warming potential the EU and Australia reiterate their commitment to the Global Methane Pledge. They noted each other’s efforts to advance methane mitigation in the energy sector at home and globally, the EU’s Methane Regulation and the Australian Safeguard Mechanism and through their companies’ participation in the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0.

Trade and the clean energy transition

19. Both the EU and Australia took note of the broad consensus in support of making commitments in energy and resources during the negotiations on the FTA that, once finalised, would provide a decisive boost to trade and investments in these crucial sectors to the benefit of both economies and their respective clean energy transitions.