How Climate Group influenced a state in Australia to go green | Climate Week (original) (raw)

13th September 2024 5 min read

Influencing states to go green

We’re sitting down with Mike Rann, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Climate Group, and former Premier of the state of South Australia. In his 10-year tenure as Premier, Mike Rann led his state through a seismic change in power-generation: from coal to solar and wind. This is a story of a politician who saw the light early, and was open to being influenced by his peers.

Tell us about the beginning of the shift.

When I was elected, I was very committed to work on climate change – South Australia had solar and wind potential, but at the time there was next to nothing in terms of renewables, and no national leadership. We decided we wanted to be a model for the rest of Australia and internationally, and we focused on this in successive elections.

We got the first climate legislation in Australian history through, we introduced the first solar feed-in tariffs to encourage and reward people for installing solar on their roofs. In South Australia, 75% of all power is now drawn from renewables, and that will be 100% before end of this decade.

That may have been easy for you, as Premier of a very sunny state?
Sure. But there are always opportunities with wind, tidal power, hydrogen, energy efficiency – that last one is the case wherever you are on the planet.

It’s a mindset. I was Chair of Low Carbon Australia for a while, a federal agency that is all about energy efficiency, providing loans to companies that would invest in improving energy efficiency. I told them: don’t preach about climate change. Say to people: we can save you money. Then they’ll pay attention.

What was the role of Climate Group in this shift?
It was major - it facilitated cross pollination of climate ideas between different subnational governments, we explored what policies worked and didn’t work. I was working closely with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the states and regions network, which later became the Under2 Coalition.

States from all over the world worked in a cooperative and sometimes competitive way. We could all see there was first-mover advantage and we all wanted to lead. It was very much: ‘I see you, and raise you one’. The members showed how an organisation that brings together subnational governments, like Climate Group, can act as go to influencer of national governments, and tackle the rubbish that was pumped around in the media.

And now you’re the Chair of the Board at Climate Group
When I came back, it was great to see how Climate Group had grown, to now more than 650 companies and 180 or so subnational governments. We’ve seen the shift in how people and governments view climate change, we’ve seen the renewables boom, and the realization that it’s not just good for the planet, but that it makes economic sense.

Some of the greatest companies in the world have signed up to our commitments, we hold them to account, we don’t tolerate greenwashing. With Climate Group, companies are cleaning up their processes, their energy, their supply chains.

And Climate Week NYC is a key moment in that, a market place for ideas that work. Leaders of corporations, governments and NGOs sit down and listen to each other, instead of talking at each other. Companies are asking others for data. ‘Show us what you are doing, how did you do this, have you looked at that issue, can you look at this policy, how did you work with suppliers to get emissions down.’ Governments say: ‘Can I borrow your plan and legislation so that we can adapt and rebadge some of it for my state’.

A major figure of a company went to government official to say: ‘Let’s see how we can tackle this together’. That sort of cross-pollination doesn’t happen anywhere else, but that’s how you get ahead.

But in the end, it’s about phasing out fossil fuels asap.
Fossil fuel giants know the game is up, they are aware the momentum is unstoppable, but they’re trying to slow it down.

So, we have to fight at every turn. I don’t see enough of that. During the financial crisis the G7 and G20 prevented the world melting down. But with the biggest crisis of our lifetime, they’re just putting out small fires. It’s bizarre. In Australia, we have once-in-100-years events happening all the time. People see the impact on their lives, they fear for the future of their grandchildren. I don’t know how many more reminders we need.

What policy changes do we need to speed up action?

NDC’s need to be more ambitious, with clear targets. When you hear a politician talking about net zero by 2050, your first question needs to be: what are your interim targets to get there, what are you doing right now? Business need long-term certainty, governments can give that by setting interim, ambitious but achievable targets.

Subnational governments can lead the charge, look at California. On EVs, renewables, states are the go-to action takers for their nation. Not everyone may agree with it, but people respect courage and political clarity, as opposed the political flimflam we see so often.

And it’s about showing the public what’s in it for them. Always back a horse called self-interest. Energy companies found that it made more economic sense to invest in wind farms rather than in fossil fuels plants, and a massive proportion of homeowners installed solar on their houses because it became cheaper, and it brought down their energy prices. Once they see what’s in it for them, companies and people will join the transition. Because it’s the winning horse.