Echoing comments made earlier this week by the Clean Energy Council, the producer of the world’s most frequently referenced renewables market report underlines the need for stability in Australian renewable energy policy.
In a speech to the Australian National Conference on Resources and Energy in Canberra on Wednesday, Christine Lins, Executive Secretary of REN21, will state a key requirement for significant and sustained investment in Australia is policy stability, which Australia needs to take into consideration in the current review of the nation’s 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target.
Just the fact the review is occurring and the controversy surrounding it is already making investors jittery; which is never a good way to loosen purse strings.
Ms Lins says a stable and supportive policy framework leads to increased productivity and growth, job creation, improvements in public health, and enhanced energy security – and importantly, a more stable climate.
“Australia is seen as a leader in many innovative industries like science and health, but at the moment it is trailing behind overseas renewable energy frontrunners like Germany,” she says.
Earlier this week, Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green said Australia’s Renewable Energy Target is the single most important policy measure for the nation’s entire renewables sector.
“Any changes to the Renewable Energy Target will shatter this stability and remove investor confidence in clean energy, negating the industry’s ability to support Australia’s shift to clean energy sources and to reduce energy costs for consumers in the long-term.”
Ms. Lins, a graduate of the University of Linz (Austria) in international economics and applied languages, has spent 15 years working in the field of renewable energy and will also be speaking on Thursday evening at a free public seminar in Melbourne.
The seminar will provide insight into advances being made in renewable energy business and policy in developed and developing nations and will position the Australian industry within this global context. Following Ms. Lins’ speech will be a panel discussion.
Registrations for the Melbourne seminar can be submitted here.
