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Goal

Bringing together research, industry, government, and communities to help Australia’s hardest to abate sectors – including steel, sustainable aviation fuel, and agriculture – halve their emissions by 2035.

The Towards Net Zero mission is building Australia’s national capability to support the transition to net zero emissions by enabling Australia to prosper and grow in a global low emissions world through new economic, societal and environmental value.

A low emissions future

The transition to net zero will require change in most sectors of the economy, but it will also present new opportunities which Australia is well placed to grasp.

Realising this critical global transition requires new collaborative science and technology.

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[Image changes to show Dr Larry Marshall talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show a close side view of Larry talking to the camera, and text appears: Dr Larry Marshall, Chief Executive, CSIRO]


Dr Larry Marshall: Across the globe, more than 130 countries – representing 80% of the world’s population and more than 80% of global emissions – have set net zero targets.

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But reaching net zero means a fundamental reimagining of everything we do.

 

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The transition will take place not just with technology, but through economic, political, and social spheres.

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It will require a new energy system, new modes of transport, new fuels, new materials, new modes of financing investments, new ways for industry sectors to interact, and new ways of living.

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This transition will take place at a scale and at a pace which we haven’t seen in our lifetimes.

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Our seemingly impossible challenge is to lower emissions across multiple sectors while also supporting our economy and our communities to grow.

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But science loves to solve seemingly impossible challenges.

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CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, is uniquely placed to help our country meet our net zero challenge.

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We work with every major Australian university, all levels of government, and with businesses both large and small across every sector of the Australian economy.

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We are a catalyst for innovation, which means we can help Australia’s innovation system to be stronger together in pursuit of our common goal.

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Our National Missions are helping Australian businesses and communities to solve their greatest challenges, like reaching net zero using pathways most appropriate to them, and transforming Australia’s exports.

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Our Hydrogen Mission is already helping to realise Australia’s $50bn hydrogen export opportunity, and working on next generation storage and critical metals supply to underpin the transition to low emissions technologies.

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But towards net zero means going beyond just energy – we need to work with all industries, including hard to abate sectors such as steel, agriculture and heavy transport. 

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It also means creating new sources of negative emissions technology to help offset these industries, and reduce existing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

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And it means working with the regions that will be most affected by this fundamental change, to ensure their ongoing prosperity and resilience in the face of massive transformation.

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But Science is lighting the path forward.

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The Towards Net Zero Mission is focussed on helping Australia to prosper in a low carbon world.

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It brings together an ecosystem of collaborators to help achieve this, because we will not reach our net zero target by acting alone.

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The scale of transformation required is beyond anything we have ever achieved before and we will only get there, if we go together.

 

[Image changes to show Dr Michael Battaglia talking to the camera, and text appears: Dr Michael Battaglia, Towards Net Zero Mission Lead]

 

Dr Michael Battaglia: Realising the transition to net zero requires new collaborative science and technology.

 

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In many sectors, options to reduce emissions are emerging but many are still in early stages and require significant improvement in cost and performance and we don’t have the time to wait. 

 

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We know that the transition to net zero involves more than just low emissions technology.

 

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We need to create pathways for this technology to support prosperity and generate other benefits to the environment and society if they are to be widely adopted.

 

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A purposeful and planned transition to achieving net zero emissions can be used to create a wide range of positive and environmental social benefits, including new industries and jobs suited to regional areas.   

[Images move through to show close and medium views of Michael talking to the camera, and then symbols of a factory, a government building, a family, and a microscope appear on a blue screen, and text appears: Our Towards Net Zero Mission Partners, Industry, Government, Communities, Research]

 

To accelerate adoption of these pathways to a low emissions future, the Towards Net Zero Mission led in Australia by the CSIRO works with partners across industry, government, our communities and the research sector to build Australia’s national capability to support the transition.

 

[Images move through to show Michael talking to the camera, electricity poles and wires, cars moving along a road, and a view of a plane in the air]

 

We know that 80% of Australia’s accountable emissions in 2020 came from processes involved in stationary energy production, fuel use, and passenger transport.

 

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The challenging transition to reduce emissions from these sources is underway.

 

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But to achieve our national net zero target we need to address all emission sources.

 

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This last 20% involves industries such as steel and agriculture that make critical economic contributions to Australia’s prosperity and help shape the fabric and vibrancy of regional Australia.

 

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And these are the hardest sectors to abate.

 

[Image changes to show text on a blue screen: Supporting Australia’s Low Emissions Transition]

 

The Toward Net Zero Mission will support Australia’s low emissions transition in three ways.

 

[Image shows an arrow appearing below the previous text pointing to new text: Assisting in emissions reduction in hard to abate industries]

   

We will assist in emissions reduction in our economically important hard to abate industries

 

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and value chains like low emissions steel, and sustainable aviation, and the agriculture sector, by helping them adopt low emissions technologies.  

[Image changes to show new text appearing on the previous slide: Working with regions to unlock opportunities for a low emissions future]

 

We will support and work with regions in transition and help them unlock opportunities from a low-emission future. 

 

[Image shows new text appearing on the slide: Increasing supply of sequestration opportunities] 

And we will work to overcome barriers to increase the supply of sequestration opportunities

 

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and we will find ways that this can support environmental goals and local communities because despite all efforts, the nature of some industries means that they will continue to emit emissions.

 

[Image changes to show Warren Flentje talking to the camera, and text appears: Warren Flentje, Towards Net Zero Mission Industrial Carbonisation Lead]


Warren Flentje: The iron and steel sector is an industry of great economic value to Australia and to the rest of the world.  

 

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Australia produces almost half of the world’s iron ore and this represents the nation’s largest single source of export revenue, bringing in A$153 billion last financial year. 
 

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But steel making is an emissions intensive process. The process of turning iron ore into steel currently contributes around 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

 

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Our Towards Net Zero Mission is working with major iron ore producers and international steelmaking partners across a range of relevant areas to develop some of the key technologies and processes that will help get steel to net zero.

 

[Image changes to show Jody Bruce talking to the camera, and text appears: Jody Bruce, Towards the Net Zero Mission Regional Transition Lead]

 

Jody Bruce: The net zero transition means new ways of doing things at all levels.

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The Towards Net Zero Mission is working hand in hand with these regions in transition, bringing together stakeholders from across research, industry government and the community

 

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to navigate the transition and create a shared vision for their unique futures.

 

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We’re in discussion with federal and state governments, regional councils, and community groups and local businesses to help equip them with the tools and frameworks to navigate this complex environment.

 

[Images move through to show medium and close views of Michael talking to the camera]

 

Dr Michael Battaglia: The Towards Net Zero mission will work with partners across industry, government and the innovation sector to translate this deep science capability into real world action and enhance our national capability to support net zero goals, while at the same time mapping a path to long-term, low-emissions prosperity.

 

[Image changes to show text on a white screen: CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency, www.csiro.au/towardsnetzero]

CSIRO has launched its Towards Net Zero Mission

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Opportunity

A net zero Australia

The transition to net zero is no small task. Processes involved in stationary energy production, fuel use, and passenger transport accounted for 80% of Australia’s accountable emissions in 2020.  The challenging transition to reduce emissions from these sources is underway.

However, a national net zero target needs us to address all emission sources, and this last 20% involves sectors such as steel and agriculture that make critical economic contributions to Australia’s prosperity and help shape the fabric and vibrancy of regional Australia.

Australia has an opportunity to create new low carbon growth industries and jobs in these areas, but we will need the tools and collaborations to do it. Achieving these net zero goals requires the development of new technologies as well as demonstration of these technologies at scale to drive wider adoption.

Because some industries such as agriculture will continue to emit emissions because of the way they have to work, we require the development and deployment of carbon dioxide removal options including nature-based solutions like afforestation and building soil carbon, as well as engineered solutions like carbon capture and storage. In addition to helping capture emissions these technologies can also provide co-benefits such as improved environmental outcomes or new feedstocks for secondary industries.

The transition to net zero will impact on the regions, particularly those reliant on industries in transition, but it will also create economic opportunities. There is an opportunity arising from decarbonisation to create a wide range of new industries and jobs suited to regional areas.

Potential impact

Profitable and low emissions industries, and prosperous regions

In partnership, we expect to see outcomes such as:

  • Australian industries having technology and pathways for low emissions transition
  • Negative emissions technology being deployed to enable Australia’s net zero targets
  • Sustainable growth opportunities for our regions, communities and businesses.

Focus

Creating a transition plan towards net zero

The Towards Net Zero Mission will provide Australian industry, agriculture and regional communities with the tools to achieve net zero emissions and realise the opportunities of a low carbon economy.

The Towards Net Zero Mission is supporting Australia’s regions and focussing on some of our most hard to abate industries by:

  • supporting a profitable and sustainable agriculture industry in a low emissions world;
  • identifying what is required to develop new low emissions steel and iron ore processes;
  • identifying what is required to develop sustainable aviation fuel to support our aviation sector;
  • helping regions navigate the transition to net zero through new collaborations, analysis, and support; and
  • expanding Australia’s carbon offset capacity by using and scaling negative emission technologies such as carbon sequestration.

Collaborations

Success depends on strong collaboration across industry, research, communities, and governments to build the national skills and readiness to transition to a low emissions future.

We are engaging with advisory, funding, R&D and translation partners to grow this Mission and welcome expressions of interest to collaborate with us.

News

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