Australia Scores Poorly on Carbon Future Score Card

Being an Australian means a lot to me, but when this story came across my desk, my pride took a bit of a dive. WWF-Australia recently assessed 19 of Australia’s power firms on what each are doing to prepare for a future with lower carbon emissions.

The report, entitled the Power Generators Carbon Future Score Card, was released late last week, and saw 11 companies rate two stars or less out of five, with three companies receiving no stars whatsoever.

The worst performers, receiving the afore mentioned no stars, were Alcoa, the largest producer of alumina in the world, Intergen, a global power generation company, and Rio Tinto, a large multinational mining company.

“It’s remarkable how these dinosaur companies can complain about their future and ask for hand-outs but do zero to reduce their emissions,” WWF Development and Sustainability Program Manager Paul Toni said.

“For two decades there has been no wringing of hands, no worrying about the future or the impact on our environment, just business as usual, without a second thought for anything but short-term profits.”

However, thankfully, there were a few bright spots. Origin Energy, one of Australia’s largest procurers and providers of electricity, scored 5 stars out of 5. With Babcock & Brown, Transfield Services, TRUenergy and Verve Energy all receiving four stars.

But while there may be five bright spots, that is like pointing to the silver lining in a tornado cloud.

“Our power generators need to focus on targets now, so they can focus on goals for the future,” Mr Toni said. “A low carbon future is coming whether our power generation companies are ready or not. The time for our corporate leaders to sit on their hands has long gone.

View the full report here (PDF)