Australia to host landmark Indo-Pacific Clean Energy Supply Chain Forum

Global leaders and innovators in business, technology and finance will gather in Sydney on 12-13 July 2022 for a major summit on clean energy development and supply chains across the Indo-Pacific region.

The Indo-Pacific Clean Energy Supply Chain Forum – an Australian led regional initiative – will be co-hosted by the Australian Government and the International Energy Agency (IEA), in partnership with the Business Council of Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this ground-breaking forum was the first of its kind, and showed Australia’s commitment to clean energy development across the region.

“We know that the adoption of low emissions technology across the globe will be critical to a collective effort to meet our climate goals,” Morrison said.

“Australian industry and our communities are leaders in the adoption of renewables and the Forum is a chance to share our expertise with neighbours across the region,” he said.

However, the prime minister also stressed that the energy transition must not deny Australian citizens, especially in developing economies, their livelihoods or the opportunity for a better quality of life.

“The solutions we need for the challenges we face need to be as affordable and practical in Australia as they are for our regional partners,” he said.

“Technology will be the cornerstone of this transition. This Forum is about making sure that technologies, resources, workforces and supply chains are well understood and that all nations can participate in the economic opportunities.’’

The Indo-Pacific is the world’s fastest growing region and consumer of half of global energy. The development and deployment of reliable and low cost clean energy technologies and creation of secure and diverse clean energy supply chains is critical to economic prosperity, and achieving global climate commitments.

Regional and global experts will be invited to work together to realise the opportunities and tackle the challenges to enable diverse, competitive and resilient clean energy supply chains in the Indo-Pacific region.

Dr Alan Finkel AC, Special Adviser to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technology and former Chief Scientist, will chair a high level panel of eminent global experts in low emissions technology, finance, industry and research, to shape and lead discussions at the forum.

“These discussions will have a technical and practical focus and will identify concrete actions to secure the opportunities of the Indo-Pacific’s clean energy transition,” Dr Finkel said.

Prime Minister Morrison said that partnering with the world’s leading energy agency, the International Energy Agency and the business sector would be crucial to the success of the forum.

The Indo-Pacific Clean Energy Supply Chain Forum will build on and provide input to the international work of the IEA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, ASEAN, Indonesia’s 2022 G20 Presidency, the Quad, and the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Egypt.