Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has a strategic level of engagement with climate policy. While the association generally issues top-line support for climate action, its transparent engagement with climate-related policy in Australia involves a mix of positive and negative positions. The BCA also displays a mix of positive and negative positions on the energy transition, consistently advocating a technology-neutral approach that appears to include support for a prolonged role for fossil gas alongside a future role for nuclear in addition to renewables.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: The BCA displays largely positive top-line messaging on climate policy. The association repeatedly supported Australia’s 2050 net zero target, for example in its proposed policy priorities for action in the lead up to the 2025 election, published January 2025. The association’s CEO, Bran Black, also emphasized that it is in Australia’s interests to remain in the Paris Accord and committed to net zero by 2050 in a January 2025 interview in Sky News. In addition, BCA President Geoff Culbert appeared to support government regulation to respond to climate change in a March 2024 speech at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit. However, the BCA appeared to stress concerns about the impact of climate change regulations on businesses in its November 2024 consultation submission on the South West Queensland Pipeline form of regulation review.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: The BCA’s transparent engagement with climate-related policy in Australia involves a mix of positive and negative positions. The association has previously supported the legislation of Australia's 2030 emissions reduction target, for example in a March 2024 consultation submission and also expressed its support for the country’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard in the same consultation. In addition, the BCA stated that a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is “potentially useful” to mitigate carbon leakage in a December 2023 consultation submission and appeared to suggest that a CBAM is needed in the absence of a global price on carbon to successfully decarbonize Australia’s metals industry in its July 2024 submission to a consultation paper on green metals opportunities.
However, the BCA supported the Australian Government’s proposed Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive (HTPI) with major exceptions, advocating for the emissions intensity threshold to be increased and generally supporting weaker eligibility thresholds in its July 2024 consultation submission on the HTPI. The association also consistently opposed the introduction of a “climate trigger” into Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, including in its July 2024 consultation submission to the inquiry into the Nature Positive Bill 2024, suggesting that the Australian Government risks exacerbating approvals delays and investment uncertainty by “shoehorning” climate considerations into the Act. In addition, the BCA appeared to advocate for the inclusion of fossil gas in Australia’s Capacity Investment Scheme in its February 2025 consultation submission on the National Electricity Market Review.
Positioning on Energy Transition: The BCA displays a mix of positive and negative positions on the energy transition, consistently advocating a technology-neutral approach that appears to include support for a prolonged role for fossil gas alongside a future role for nuclear in addition to renewables. In its November 2023 consultation submission on Australia’s Future Gas Strategy, the association advocated for ongoing and urgent investment in fossil gas supply, stating that gas “plays many essential roles in Australia’s energy mix,” including as low-cost energy storage and high-temperature process heat. In addition, the association’s CEO, Bran Black, repeatedly stressed the need for new investment in fossil gas, as seen in a March 2025 interview in Sky News, in which he called for a quick approval of Woodside Energy’s expansion to its North West Shelf gas project to ensure Australia is a “dependable energy supplier.”
While the BCA supported an energy transition pathway that includes an increase in renewables and nuclear in its November 2024 submission to the Inquiry into nuclear power generation in Australia, it also advocated a technology-neutral approach to the energy transition with markets as the primary driver of energy sector investment. However, the association appeared to support the development of a Net Zero Economy Authority in Australia to aid the country's transition to a low carbon economy in an April 2024 consultation submission. In addition, Bran Black supported the Australian Government’s Green Aluminium Production Credit in a January 2025 media release and stated that the transition to a low-emissions economy is “intergenerationally the right thing to do” in a January 2025 interview in Sky News.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the association’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically.
This summary was last updated in Q2 2025.