'No offsets, no excuses': the pursuit of real zero
Reality has since caught up with a number of them, with Climate Integrity director Claire Snyder of the view some had little intention of ever following through on their promises.
"It's very easy to set a net zero commitment target, it's actually much harder to achieve it," according to the head of the national advocacy organisation founded in 2024 to promote transparency, accountability and adherence to climate science.
Still, not all businesses are treating climate pledges as a marketing exercise.
Lendlease, IKEA and Fortescue have all been singled out by the not-for-profit research group for their "real zero" leadership, with the latter the only heavy-emitting industrial company in the world targeting no fossil fuels.
Distinct from "net zero", which allows companies to neutralise emission by sinking money into growing trees and other carbon-cutting projects, "real zero" refers to decarbonisation through clean technologies - no offsets allowed.
Originally intended as a last-resort for sectors with no emissions-free tech options, offsets have since become a way for companies to make little effort to decarbonise while throwing money at green projects elsewhere.
While proponents argue offsets funnel funds into clean energy and revegetation, a host of reliability and permanence concerns have come to light and EnergyAustralia has recently been forced to apologise to customers for using them to spruik "carbon neutral" products.
For Ms Snyder, elevating climate leaders was pivotal at a time of ambition backsliding concentrated in the US where businesses are experiencing political and legal pressure to ditch environmental policies and activities.
While not entirely immune, she said Australian-based firms were able to create some distance and had produced fewer abandoned or watered-down climate commitments.
Lendlease head of sustainability Cate Harris said for her company, which has been chipping away at its decarbonisation targets for years, it was full-steam ahead.
"What sort of insulates us a little, particularly across our sector, is that the green building movement is now over 20 years old," she told AAP.
The construction and real estate giant has an interim net zero carbon target by 2025 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, an offset-reliant commitment that is on track.
More ambitious is its long-term "absolute zero" plan, which will see the real estate giant eliminate emissions without offsets, including those produced in the making of building materials.
Cutting out what's known as "embodied carbon" from steel, concrete, glass and aluminium remains a major challenge as it's outside the company's direct control and relies on suppliers investing in green production lines.
"They are actually probably four of the harder-to-abate sectors globally," she said.
Ms Harris reported "green shoots" across all four materials and was confident the real estate company could meet its 2040 decarbonisation goals.
"No offsets, no excuses," she said.
Ms Snyder said the corporate pursuit of emissions reductions remained a largely opt-in and voluntary affair, with the exception of the safeguard mechanism for big polluters.
Even that was dominated by offset use rather than actual decarbonisation, she said, and having "very low to moderate impact on emissions" based on the latest data.
She said regulatory regimes clamping down on greenwashing and climate information transparency should be compulsory.
"Unless they're mandatory, we're not going to see the change that we need to see at the pace that we need to see it."
Originally set up as a government-level commitment under the international Paris climate pact to limit warming to 1.5C or well below 2C, net zero was never intended to be adopted by corporations.
The pursuit of carbon neutrality by 2050 - that is, cutting emissions wherever possible and then countering sectors with no legitimate options for decarbonisation with reliable carbon dioxide removal strategies - is key to achieving Australia's temperature goals.
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Above (clockwise from left): Geely EX5, GAC GS3 Emzoom, Leapmotor C10, Chery Tiggo 4 Leapmotor, Deepal, JAC, Xpeng and Zeekr followed in 2024, with Geely and Omoda Jaecoo commencing deliveries this year, and Foton soon to give it another crack after having previously exited our market. GAC is also set to enter the Australian market this year, and even more brands are expected to come. That will see well over 60 brands competing for a market that, compared to more populous nations like the US, is small fry – around 1.2 million vehicles were sold here last year. Almost all of the new brands entering our market come from China, with automakers from that nation eager to enter the fray here. They're doing so in many cases not only to eke out a share of the Australian market, but also to use our market as a test bed for other markets (as Chery has confirmed) and to help bolster their global presence – something particularly crucial as competition among Chinese brands in their home market becomes ever more brutal. They're also typically coming here with sharp pricing that undercuts established brands from Japan, South Korea and other countries. Many of those Chinese brands "undoubtedly" pose a threat to legacy brands like Suzuki, said Mr Dillon. "The legislation's almost leaning towards them, isn't it?" he added, referring to the federal government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) emissions scheme, which he argued was poorly thought-out. "When you see if the NVES has the impact that it probably will have, does that mean everything else other than the Chinese stuff starts getting more expensive? 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And since 2021, Suzuki has managed to maintain a total share of our market of between 1.4 and 2.0 per cent, though this year it may struggle thanks to interrupted supply of key vehicles like the Jimny. Suzuki finished 16th overall in our market in 2024 with 21,278 deliveries, finishing behind Chinese brands MG (seventh place, 50,592 deliveries) and GWM (10th, 42,782 deliveries) and just ahead of BYD (17th, 20,458 deliveries). So far this year, Suzuki is behind all three of those brands, plus Chery. It's sitting at 9653 deliveries, down 21 per cent year-to-date, while Chery has overtaken it with 17,272 deliveries, up 235.2 per cent. Moving forward, Suzuki will also need to keep an eye on rapid risers like Geely in its rear-view mirror, while new entrants like GAC will be competing in some of the same segments as the Japanese brand. Suzuki Australia, which manages the sale and distribution of Suzuki vehicles everywhere in Australia bar Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of NSW, says it won't start a price war with purveyors of affordable Chinese vehicles. "We offer products that are good value for money that can be applicable to most buyer types around the world. And that's part of Suzuki's philosophy: to produce a car for everybody," Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota told CarExpert. "With that said, there's no compromise ever on quality, so you get what you pay for. "With respect to that, I don't think it's a race to the lowest price if a competitor is down there. It's based on producing a vehicle that's right for the consumer, and it's a quality product without any compromise. "We own our lane. We're good in it. We're the small-car specialists, and we deliver – and I keep saying it – undeniably reliable, quality product." MORE: Australia's new emissions regulations are poorly thought out, says local car brand boss MORE: Suzuki Australia won't start price war with Chinese rivals Content originally sourced from: The boss of Suzuki Motor Corporation's distributor in Queensland and northern New South Wales predicts some automotive brands will withdraw from the Australian market, including some of the newer Chinese entrants. "I think there'll definitely be brands that don't make it [in Australia]. I think there'll be brands in China that won't last – they're cutting each other's throats over there at the moment already," the general manager of Suzuki Auto Co, Paul Dillon, told CarExpert. "If you talk to [Pitcher Partners automotive analyst] Steve Bragg, somebody like that in that part of the industry, their advice to dealers is just to be very careful about which Chinese brands they take on and spend money developing their dealership for. Are they going to be there in the future? "We've already seen Chinese brands come in and go previously." CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. Indeed, the first wave of Chinese brands from 2009 into the 2010s saw various brands come but eventually go, including JMC and ZX Auto. That wave also included the first attempts in the Australian market by Chery and Geely, both of which left but have re-entered this decade with factory-backed operations. And as Mr Dillon notes, some Chinese brands have even failed or appear close to death in their own market, including HiPhi, Hycan and Weltmeister, and the Evergrande Group-owned Hengchi. The latest deluge of Chinese brands into Australia has far surpassed that of this earlier era in our market's, however. In 2023, Chery returned to the Australian market to join existing existing players BYD, GWM and MG. Above (clockwise from left): Geely EX5, GAC GS3 Emzoom, Leapmotor C10, Chery Tiggo 4 Leapmotor, Deepal, JAC, Xpeng and Zeekr followed in 2024, with Geely and Omoda Jaecoo commencing deliveries this year, and Foton soon to give it another crack after having previously exited our market. GAC is also set to enter the Australian market this year, and even more brands are expected to come. That will see well over 60 brands competing for a market that, compared to more populous nations like the US, is small fry – around 1.2 million vehicles were sold here last year. Almost all of the new brands entering our market come from China, with automakers from that nation eager to enter the fray here. They're doing so in many cases not only to eke out a share of the Australian market, but also to use our market as a test bed for other markets (as Chery has confirmed) and to help bolster their global presence – something particularly crucial as competition among Chinese brands in their home market becomes ever more brutal. They're also typically coming here with sharp pricing that undercuts established brands from Japan, South Korea and other countries. Many of those Chinese brands "undoubtedly" pose a threat to legacy brands like Suzuki, said Mr Dillon. "The legislation's almost leaning towards them, isn't it?" he added, referring to the federal government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) emissions scheme, which he argued was poorly thought-out. "When you see if the NVES has the impact that it probably will have, does that mean everything else other than the Chinese stuff starts getting more expensive? "It doesn't mean that over the next two years there's going to be a dip in the national sales of cars. Do we go from 1.1 million to a number less than that, once the shock of price increases? "That said, looking at the recent VFACTS, some of their brands are certainly rapidly increasing in volume but the overall Chinese share of the national market isn't increasing that quickly I don't think. "There are still some people that prefer to stay with a legacy brand." Sales of vehicles built in China were up by 8.6 per cent in 2024, after having overtaken sales of Korean-built cars in 2022. But while brands like BYD and Chery have soared, overall sales growth for Chinese-built cars isn't as impressive as it was in 2023, when their sales increased by 57.5 per cent, or in 2022 when they rose by 61 per cent. And since 2021, Suzuki has managed to maintain a total share of our market of between 1.4 and 2.0 per cent, though this year it may struggle thanks to interrupted supply of key vehicles like the Jimny. Suzuki finished 16th overall in our market in 2024 with 21,278 deliveries, finishing behind Chinese brands MG (seventh place, 50,592 deliveries) and GWM (10th, 42,782 deliveries) and just ahead of BYD (17th, 20,458 deliveries). So far this year, Suzuki is behind all three of those brands, plus Chery. It's sitting at 9653 deliveries, down 21 per cent year-to-date, while Chery has overtaken it with 17,272 deliveries, up 235.2 per cent. Moving forward, Suzuki will also need to keep an eye on rapid risers like Geely in its rear-view mirror, while new entrants like GAC will be competing in some of the same segments as the Japanese brand. Suzuki Australia, which manages the sale and distribution of Suzuki vehicles everywhere in Australia bar Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of NSW, says it won't start a price war with purveyors of affordable Chinese vehicles. "We offer products that are good value for money that can be applicable to most buyer types around the world. And that's part of Suzuki's philosophy: to produce a car for everybody," Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota told CarExpert. "With that said, there's no compromise ever on quality, so you get what you pay for. "With respect to that, I don't think it's a race to the lowest price if a competitor is down there. It's based on producing a vehicle that's right for the consumer, and it's a quality product without any compromise. "We own our lane. We're good in it. We're the small-car specialists, and we deliver – and I keep saying it – undeniably reliable, quality product." MORE: Australia's new emissions regulations are poorly thought out, says local car brand boss MORE: Suzuki Australia won't start price war with Chinese rivals Content originally sourced from: The boss of Suzuki Motor Corporation's distributor in Queensland and northern New South Wales predicts some automotive brands will withdraw from the Australian market, including some of the newer Chinese entrants. "I think there'll definitely be brands that don't make it [in Australia]. I think there'll be brands in China that won't last – they're cutting each other's throats over there at the moment already," the general manager of Suzuki Auto Co, Paul Dillon, told CarExpert. "If you talk to [Pitcher Partners automotive analyst] Steve Bragg, somebody like that in that part of the industry, their advice to dealers is just to be very careful about which Chinese brands they take on and spend money developing their dealership for. Are they going to be there in the future? "We've already seen Chinese brands come in and go previously." CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. Indeed, the first wave of Chinese brands from 2009 into the 2010s saw various brands come but eventually go, including JMC and ZX Auto. That wave also included the first attempts in the Australian market by Chery and Geely, both of which left but have re-entered this decade with factory-backed operations. And as Mr Dillon notes, some Chinese brands have even failed or appear close to death in their own market, including HiPhi, Hycan and Weltmeister, and the Evergrande Group-owned Hengchi. The latest deluge of Chinese brands into Australia has far surpassed that of this earlier era in our market's, however. In 2023, Chery returned to the Australian market to join existing existing players BYD, GWM and MG. Above (clockwise from left): Geely EX5, GAC GS3 Emzoom, Leapmotor C10, Chery Tiggo 4 Leapmotor, Deepal, JAC, Xpeng and Zeekr followed in 2024, with Geely and Omoda Jaecoo commencing deliveries this year, and Foton soon to give it another crack after having previously exited our market. GAC is also set to enter the Australian market this year, and even more brands are expected to come. That will see well over 60 brands competing for a market that, compared to more populous nations like the US, is small fry – around 1.2 million vehicles were sold here last year. Almost all of the new brands entering our market come from China, with automakers from that nation eager to enter the fray here. They're doing so in many cases not only to eke out a share of the Australian market, but also to use our market as a test bed for other markets (as Chery has confirmed) and to help bolster their global presence – something particularly crucial as competition among Chinese brands in their home market becomes ever more brutal. They're also typically coming here with sharp pricing that undercuts established brands from Japan, South Korea and other countries. Many of those Chinese brands "undoubtedly" pose a threat to legacy brands like Suzuki, said Mr Dillon. "The legislation's almost leaning towards them, isn't it?" he added, referring to the federal government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) emissions scheme, which he argued was poorly thought-out. "When you see if the NVES has the impact that it probably will have, does that mean everything else other than the Chinese stuff starts getting more expensive? "It doesn't mean that over the next two years there's going to be a dip in the national sales of cars. Do we go from 1.1 million to a number less than that, once the shock of price increases? "That said, looking at the recent VFACTS, some of their brands are certainly rapidly increasing in volume but the overall Chinese share of the national market isn't increasing that quickly I don't think. "There are still some people that prefer to stay with a legacy brand." Sales of vehicles built in China were up by 8.6 per cent in 2024, after having overtaken sales of Korean-built cars in 2022. But while brands like BYD and Chery have soared, overall sales growth for Chinese-built cars isn't as impressive as it was in 2023, when their sales increased by 57.5 per cent, or in 2022 when they rose by 61 per cent. And since 2021, Suzuki has managed to maintain a total share of our market of between 1.4 and 2.0 per cent, though this year it may struggle thanks to interrupted supply of key vehicles like the Jimny. Suzuki finished 16th overall in our market in 2024 with 21,278 deliveries, finishing behind Chinese brands MG (seventh place, 50,592 deliveries) and GWM (10th, 42,782 deliveries) and just ahead of BYD (17th, 20,458 deliveries). So far this year, Suzuki is behind all three of those brands, plus Chery. It's sitting at 9653 deliveries, down 21 per cent year-to-date, while Chery has overtaken it with 17,272 deliveries, up 235.2 per cent. Moving forward, Suzuki will also need to keep an eye on rapid risers like Geely in its rear-view mirror, while new entrants like GAC will be competing in some of the same segments as the Japanese brand. Suzuki Australia, which manages the sale and distribution of Suzuki vehicles everywhere in Australia bar Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of NSW, says it won't start a price war with purveyors of affordable Chinese vehicles. "We offer products that are good value for money that can be applicable to most buyer types around the world. And that's part of Suzuki's philosophy: to produce a car for everybody," Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota told CarExpert. "With that said, there's no compromise ever on quality, so you get what you pay for. "With respect to that, I don't think it's a race to the lowest price if a competitor is down there. It's based on producing a vehicle that's right for the consumer, and it's a quality product without any compromise. "We own our lane. We're good in it. We're the small-car specialists, and we deliver – and I keep saying it – undeniably reliable, quality product." MORE: Australia's new emissions regulations are poorly thought out, says local car brand boss MORE: Suzuki Australia won't start price war with Chinese rivals Content originally sourced from: The boss of Suzuki Motor Corporation's distributor in Queensland and northern New South Wales predicts some automotive brands will withdraw from the Australian market, including some of the newer Chinese entrants. "I think there'll definitely be brands that don't make it [in Australia]. I think there'll be brands in China that won't last – they're cutting each other's throats over there at the moment already," the general manager of Suzuki Auto Co, Paul Dillon, told CarExpert. "If you talk to [Pitcher Partners automotive analyst] Steve Bragg, somebody like that in that part of the industry, their advice to dealers is just to be very careful about which Chinese brands they take on and spend money developing their dealership for. Are they going to be there in the future? "We've already seen Chinese brands come in and go previously." CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. Indeed, the first wave of Chinese brands from 2009 into the 2010s saw various brands come but eventually go, including JMC and ZX Auto. That wave also included the first attempts in the Australian market by Chery and Geely, both of which left but have re-entered this decade with factory-backed operations. And as Mr Dillon notes, some Chinese brands have even failed or appear close to death in their own market, including HiPhi, Hycan and Weltmeister, and the Evergrande Group-owned Hengchi. The latest deluge of Chinese brands into Australia has far surpassed that of this earlier era in our market's, however. In 2023, Chery returned to the Australian market to join existing existing players BYD, GWM and MG. Above (clockwise from left): Geely EX5, GAC GS3 Emzoom, Leapmotor C10, Chery Tiggo 4 Leapmotor, Deepal, JAC, Xpeng and Zeekr followed in 2024, with Geely and Omoda Jaecoo commencing deliveries this year, and Foton soon to give it another crack after having previously exited our market. GAC is also set to enter the Australian market this year, and even more brands are expected to come. That will see well over 60 brands competing for a market that, compared to more populous nations like the US, is small fry – around 1.2 million vehicles were sold here last year. Almost all of the new brands entering our market come from China, with automakers from that nation eager to enter the fray here. They're doing so in many cases not only to eke out a share of the Australian market, but also to use our market as a test bed for other markets (as Chery has confirmed) and to help bolster their global presence – something particularly crucial as competition among Chinese brands in their home market becomes ever more brutal. They're also typically coming here with sharp pricing that undercuts established brands from Japan, South Korea and other countries. Many of those Chinese brands "undoubtedly" pose a threat to legacy brands like Suzuki, said Mr Dillon. "The legislation's almost leaning towards them, isn't it?" he added, referring to the federal government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) emissions scheme, which he argued was poorly thought-out. "When you see if the NVES has the impact that it probably will have, does that mean everything else other than the Chinese stuff starts getting more expensive? "It doesn't mean that over the next two years there's going to be a dip in the national sales of cars. Do we go from 1.1 million to a number less than that, once the shock of price increases? "That said, looking at the recent VFACTS, some of their brands are certainly rapidly increasing in volume but the overall Chinese share of the national market isn't increasing that quickly I don't think. "There are still some people that prefer to stay with a legacy brand." Sales of vehicles built in China were up by 8.6 per cent in 2024, after having overtaken sales of Korean-built cars in 2022. But while brands like BYD and Chery have soared, overall sales growth for Chinese-built cars isn't as impressive as it was in 2023, when their sales increased by 57.5 per cent, or in 2022 when they rose by 61 per cent. And since 2021, Suzuki has managed to maintain a total share of our market of between 1.4 and 2.0 per cent, though this year it may struggle thanks to interrupted supply of key vehicles like the Jimny. Suzuki finished 16th overall in our market in 2024 with 21,278 deliveries, finishing behind Chinese brands MG (seventh place, 50,592 deliveries) and GWM (10th, 42,782 deliveries) and just ahead of BYD (17th, 20,458 deliveries). So far this year, Suzuki is behind all three of those brands, plus Chery. It's sitting at 9653 deliveries, down 21 per cent year-to-date, while Chery has overtaken it with 17,272 deliveries, up 235.2 per cent. Moving forward, Suzuki will also need to keep an eye on rapid risers like Geely in its rear-view mirror, while new entrants like GAC will be competing in some of the same segments as the Japanese brand. Suzuki Australia, which manages the sale and distribution of Suzuki vehicles everywhere in Australia bar Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of NSW, says it won't start a price war with purveyors of affordable Chinese vehicles. "We offer products that are good value for money that can be applicable to most buyer types around the world. And that's part of Suzuki's philosophy: to produce a car for everybody," Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota told CarExpert. "With that said, there's no compromise ever on quality, so you get what you pay for. "With respect to that, I don't think it's a race to the lowest price if a competitor is down there. It's based on producing a vehicle that's right for the consumer, and it's a quality product without any compromise. "We own our lane. We're good in it. We're the small-car specialists, and we deliver – and I keep saying it – undeniably reliable, quality product." MORE: Australia's new emissions regulations are poorly thought out, says local car brand boss MORE: Suzuki Australia won't start price war with Chinese rivals Content originally sourced from:
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australians are choosing to travel to Asia over the US. It's not because of Trump
Japan, China and Vietnam are fast becoming the top travel destinations for Australians, with fewer residents flying to the United States than before the pandemic. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week, the number of Australian residents visiting Japan nearly doubled from about 484,000 in 2018-19 to more than 910,000 in 2024-25, making it the third most popular destination for Australian travellers, overtaking the US. While China, Vietnam and Indonesia also recorded continued growth, with the latter – attracting 1.7 million visitors – remaining Australia's most popular overseas destination, fewer than 750,000 Australian residents chose to travel to the US. That figure was up on 714,000 the previous financial year but remained lower than the nearly 1.1 million who travelled to the States in 2018-19, before the pandemic. Australian Travel Industry Association chief executive Dean Long said that while US President Donald Trump had some dampening impact on Australian business travel to the US, there was little effect on visits for leisure. Loading 'It's not having as big an impact as we originally anticipated,' he said, noting instances of Australians being stopped at the US border were consistent with the pre-Trump era. 'There's definitely been some loss of business events, but in the leisure market, people still want to go do things they can only do in the US.' Long said the more popular Asian destinations were those where costs had not risen dramatically over the past few years, as well as those that had experienced favourable exchange rate movements.
