New guidance to uplift climate disclosure reporting across the energy sector has been produced through a year-long collaboration between the peak body for energy generators and retailers, the Australian Energy Council, and the University of Adelaide.
The Australian Energy Council's members worked closely with the University of Adelaide's governance and climate policy expert Dr Tracey Dodd and Professor Melissa Nursey-Bray, to develop the guides as part of the University's sustainability showcase initiative.
The work, a national first, will be showcased as part of the Governance Institute of Australia's Leadership Conference in Sydney today, 8 September 2025.
The project has clarified some of the more complex aspects of Australia's new climate disclosure regime, which came into effect this year. Under the regime large organisations must comply with Australian Sustainability Reporting Standard AASB S2 Climate-related Disclosures, which is designed to enhance climate transition planning across the economy.
"Compliance with AASB S2 is a significant uplift in corporate disclosures related to climate change, and compliance with these standards has been established as a duty of company directors," Dr Dodd said.
"While some energy companies have prior experience preparing public climate scenario analysis, for most this is a new exercise."
The two guides are:
Emissions Reporting Guide - Establishes an industry approach to scope 3 emissions reporting in the electricity sector, with a focus on accuracy and avoiding double counting. It is intended as a living document that will evolve alongside corporate climate disclosures.
AASB S2 Scenario Analysis Practice Guide - Provides a framework to help energy companies assess climate risks and opportunities under different scenarios, including steps to build analysis, test assumptions, and recognise limitations.
Australian Energy Council's Project lead, Rhys Thomas said the project has been a great success.
"This has been an important piece of work and a very successful collaboration," Thomas said.
"Through participation in this project, electricity companies have gained a better understanding of different industry practices, their strengths, and limitations when it comes to climate transition planning. This knowledge sharing will encourage more robust climate resilience."
Dr Dodd added businesses who use the resources will experience more efficiency in climate planning.
"Businesses that apply healthy scrutiny of material assumptions and variables will find it easier to integrate evolving scenario analysis, re-emphasising the benefits of undertaking early and robust climate resilience assessments," Dr Dodd said.
In the next stage of its collaboration with the University of Adelaide, the Australian Energy Council is working with Dr Dodd to develop a training module to support director climate competency.
Both guides are publicly accessible on the Australian Energy Council's website.
