Climate KIC will build the world’s first Integrated Ocean Energy Marketplace, designed to address the lack of market demand for ocean energy in the Blue Economy (eg, coastal businesses, communities and industries). The goal is to increase awareness, provide access to ocean energy system providers, assure ocean energy is affordable, increase commercial projects and reduce development risk. The strategic purpose is to shift the industry paradigm from technology push to a market pull.

CSIRO estimates that wave energy alone could contribute up to 11% of Australia’s energy by 2050 (CSIRO). A need exists to bridge the chasm between ocean energy technology providers and Blue Economy markets seeking to reduce emissions and transition to sustainable energy solution. To date, energy from Australia’s oceans has been too often overlooked as an essential part of Australia’s energy mix because of significant barriers to demand. 

Australia’s infrastructure is critical to achieving net zero emissions, influencing 70% of our emissions. Yet a fragmented approach to infrastructure planning and investment across diverse sectors won’t get us there.

For the first time nationally, Climateworks will establish the Net Zero Infrastructure Alliance (NZIA) to draw government and industry together, creating an influential and collaborative platform with a shared purpose to shape and implement an ambitious infrastructure plan that supports our whole nation’s systems-wide transition to net zero. Alliance members will define what is necessary to realise our net zero infrastructure future, and commit to implementing changes. Members will participate in solutions-focused national workshops, chaired by Alliance members and facilitated by ClimateWorks.

Marlinja is a registered Aboriginal Land Trust situated approximately 25km north of the township of Elliott on the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory's Barkly region. The Marlinja Community Solar Project is a community-led initiative to improve household and community-wide energy security for residents of Marlinja outstation. Residents of Marlinja are severely impacted by energy security, through regular power outages on network transmission lines that impact the entire community, and frequent household power disconnections due to the high cost of power, overcrowded and inappropriate housing design and exposure to thermal extremes necessitating higher energy consumption.

Original Power’s plan is to replace Marlinja's reliance on expensive and polluting diesel-fired power with clean, low cost solar and battery storage through a centralised solar array and wireless distribution of electricity credit to all homes. Benefits of lower cost, more reliable power and a blueprint for other communities to use to roll out their own community solar projects will be key project outcomes.

Building on the award-winning Accounting for Nature® (AfN) Framework, this project will help establish an online environmental accounting technology platform that organisations can use to import remote sensing and field data; create and verify an environmental account; link this account to carbon offsets (e.g. carbon offset unit registries); and once certified by Accounting for Nature Ltd, export this environmental account data into Xero (or other software package) to align financial reporting data with carbon and environmental accounting metrics.

Through this open platform, metrics can then be shared to confidently substantiate environmental “co-benefit” claims when using carbon offsets or making carbon neutral claims (etc) – helping to avoiding greenwash through evidence of real and measurable improvements to natural capital. This project will benefit business (e.g. investment funds, carbon offset project developers) and not-for-profits (e.g. conservation NGOs) through providing a simple to use environmental accounting platform which they can use to evidence their claims to government and the wider community (who will also benefit).

This grant will be used to upgrade AfN’s existing Phase 1 technology platform via development of an API to import data from reputable external carbon accounting platforms such as FlintPro. A second API will be developed to allow organisations to export carbon/environmental data and into Xero (or other package), align this with the organisation’s financial balance sheet for public reporting.

This research project by CQU will reseed >20 hectares of seagrass within the Port of Gladstone using an innovative combination of established partnerships to collect seagrass seeds from donor meadows and utilise UAVs (drones) for targeted dispersal. This will demonstrate a new method of seagrass restoration that is scalable across Australia.

CQU will partner with 25-50 volunteers from the Gidarjil Development Corporation, Queensland Virtual STEM Academy, and the Burnett Mary Regional Group to harvest seagrass flowers from healthy seagrasses. These flowers will be held at Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) seagrass nursery until the seeds can be collected.

UAVs will map the restoration sites using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and multispectral imaging to assess target locations for restoration. The UAVs will remotely disperse pre-germinated and coated seeds and use mapping to assess successful seedling survival in combination with on the ground assessments of successful targeted seed bank enhancement. 

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) will establish and pilot a Blue Carbon Covenant Fund to protect, restore and recover coastal blue carbon sinks on private land across South-East Queensland. It will target eligible wetlands, saltmarsh and swamps to deliver aggregate benefits. As an Australian first, the project allows private investors to support wetland restoration and capture blue carbon, through carbon credits, with proceeds provided to the environment.

The fund will issue upfront sign-on payments and wetland management grants to private landowners of small land parcels over a 25-year carbon permanence period. The carbon rights acquired from small land parcels will be aggregated into single or multiple carbon projects registerable under the Australian Government’s Climate Solutions Fund administered by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) for Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs). Revenue for the Fund will be generated through the sale of ACCUs to corporate groups brokered by TNC. Other revenue streams such as vegetation offsets or biodiversity credits will be investigated as secondary revenue streams to enable a premium on proceeds, enhancing the likelihood of landowner sign-on. The Pilot will target approximately 50 landholders exposed to sea level rise within a 5000-hectare floodplain area on the Maroochy River, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. 

This project will enable the installation of the first Seabin 6.0 Data Monitoring Unit (DMU) in Sydney Harbour. Seabin’s collect marine debris 24/7, providing important data about ocean pollutants.

This new Seabin unit will add real time water quality data through sensors (IoT connectivity) to monitor trends in association with floating plastics and contaminants. Further development of analysis protocols in light of the findings will be put in place, to continue to inform on ways to improve litter prevention for cleaner oceans. All data collected is aggregated into Seabin’s unqie Pollution Index which is utilised to inform government policies on waste and pollution. 

The project will build an evidence base and best practice guidance to enable locally led climate adaptation for some of the most vulnerable and underserved communities, first in Indonesia and then globally. By leveraging Opportunity International Australia’s trusted microfinance network, the project will build a better understanding of client vulnerabilities and needs, enabling improved financial products, additional training and other services to provide a robust pathway out of poverty for over one million families in Indonesia.

Project outcomes include: understanding clients’ resilience needs, tailoring existing – and developing new – financial products and services to meet the needs of Smallholder Farmers and other groups in our partners’ portfolios. The research will cover peri-urban areas of Java and disadvantaged rural areas served by our Indonesian partners, BAV, Komida, YCAB and TLM.