Shareholders approve Origin Energy’s climate transition strategy

At Origin Energy’s annual general meeting on 19 October 2022, shareholders approved its Climate Transition Action Plan (CTAP). The Australian energy company, which is involved in exploration, generation and retail, received support from 94.5% of shareholders for the strategy. CTAP, released in August 2022, is ambitious – it sets a target of net-zero emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3. At the time, CEO Frank Calabria indicated that Origin had more than 1,600 megawatts of renewable capacity in the pipeline. In addition, the company has stated that it believes gas has a role to play in the transition, but CTAP adds a caveat: “We would develop new gas fields only where it was consistent with our net-zero emissions by 2050 ambition”. At the AGM, Calabria argued: “Gas will remain important to ensuring reliability of the energy system for many years because gas-peaking plants will underpin reliable energy supply as the penetration of renewable energy sources increases.” During the AGM Q&A, shareholders debated whether the company’s financial incentives to develop gas projects undermined CTAP, to which the company reiterated its belief in the role of gas in the energy transition and argued that gas-related financial incentives would not be inconsistent with CTAP.