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Conference programme - Day two
Plenary session
| 15.00 | Grand Business & Investment Round Table - Sponsored by Austrade |
 This not to be missed session will take the form of an interactive discussion and Q&A chaired by the distinguished Australian broadcast journalist, Kerry O'Brien, the host of ABC TV's flagship current affairs program, The 7.30 Report. In this session the audience will have the opportunity to quiz top heavy hitters from the international financial scene who presented in the earlier business and investment sessions. They include:
The backgound to the interactive Round Table: Clean and renewable energy technologies are increasingly being seen as the powerhouse of a new industrial revolution comparable to the computer and telecommunications revolutions of 40 years ago. Crucial to this happening will be a major increase in the flow of private and public funds into these technologies and the signs are that this is starting to happen. Recently, the Australian Government enacted legislation setting a target to derive 20% of the country's energy needs from clean and renewable sources by 2020. This followed close on the heels of the Australian budget which allocated A$4.5 billion (US$3.5 billion) to a major Clean Energy Initiative. Energy and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said the program would include A$465 million (US$357 million) to establish Renewables Australia, an agency supporting and bringing to market leading edge renewable energy technologies. As part of this programme, A$2 billion is to be invested over nine years into the development of industrial-scale carbon capture and storage projects to boost Australian technology, protect jobs and tackle climate change. Solar power – thermal and OPV systems – are also set to become a major beneficiary of this funding. Only weeks before, Australia established the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute which will serve a crucial role as a global clearing house for technologies destined to play a key role in the looming battle to cut carbon emissions. Its members already include numerous national governments plus leading corporations such as the GE of the US. Internationally, there is clear evidence that the flow of private and public funds into clean and renewable energy technologies is starting to accelerate. Earlier this year, HSBC bank calculated that US$430 billion or 15% of the estimated US$2.8 trillion of the economic stimulus packages announced by numerous national governments to ease the credit crunch had been allocated to key climate change investment themes. Of these, measures designed to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency accounted for 77% of the total. In the US, for example, the recent US$700 billion Economic Stability Act contains tax breaks and incentives for renewable energy and cleantech. The aim of the Act is to boost the cleantech industry and create new ‘green-collar’ jobs, a key component of the Obama Administration’s plan to re-energise the US economy. In June, figures released by the United Nations showed that in 2008, for the very first time, green energy overtook fossil fuels in attracting investment for power generation. It is in the light these developments and the looming Copenhagen climate change summit, that we present the All-Energy Australia Business & Investment Round Table. Miss it at your peril! | |
