Australia’s shift to clean energy is well underway. Already, around 40 percent of the electricity in our main national grid comes from reliable clean energy sources, like solar and wind. More than 3.5 million Australians have solar on the roof, and households are disconnecting from gas like never before. To slash climate pollution further and faster while delivering a more affordable and resilient energy system, we need to accelerate this momentum.

Gas is a fossil fuel that produces a lot of climate pollution throughout its supply chain, which means it is harming us wherever we extract, process and burn it. In spite of the damaging contribution it has made to global warming, gas has been an important energy source for Australia and our international trading partners. But this is changing rapidly as we move to renewables backed by storage in our grid, electrify our homes and start to swap gas for cleaner alternatives in our industries.

Gas has served Australia in the past, but it’s time to get real about moving on. By acknowledging that Australia’s gas supply from existing sources will reduce over time, we can fully channel investment, workforce and supply chains towards growing new Australian industries with a bright, long-term future – like green metals, clean manufacturing and zero-emission fuels.

Key findings:

• The International Energy Agency expects global demand for gas will peak before 2030 then go into a structural decline.
• Eighty percent of Australia’s gas exports are shipped to three countries: Japan, South Korea and China. Each of these countries have set targets under the binding international 'Paris Agreement' to cut climate pollution this decade.
• Australia’s existing gas supplies are shrinking, while new gas projects in Australia have high development costs and struggle to generate returns on capital investment.
• Gas has a small, shrinking and short-term role to play in Australia’s energy mix. By expanding our clean energy capacity this decade, we can limit gas to a small residual ‘firming’ role in Australia’s electricity grid, halve gas use in our homes and businesses and cut gas use by one-third across our industries.
• The Australian government has taken some steps to reserve Australian gas to meet domestic energy needs, but can go further. A new Energy Security Guarantee can require multinational gas companies to meet Australian energy needs first without ripping up their contracts with international customers.