Brisbane-based Equator Alliance is taking the lead in resource sector environmental assessment by bringing a world-leading climate change researcher from The University of Queensland face-to-face with industry innovators.
A Commonwealth government Researcher in Business grant (RiB) has enabled Equator Alliance member, AustralAsian Resource Consultants (AARC) to develop a program for helping clients meet Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) requirements, which now include greenhouse gas abatement plans and climate change adaptation plans.
Through fellow Equator Alliance member, UniQuest, AARC engaged the expertise of UQ’s Dr Paul Dargusch to gain a better understanding how climate change scenarios and emission control strategies can be integrated into EIS processes.
With the wider scope of services AARC can now offer to clients, resulting from the new product development, knowledge integration, and skill transfer outcomes of the program, the Equator Alliance is breaking new ground in climate change management in the resources sector.
AARC General Manager of Mine Planning & Development, Rodger Bonney, said the RiB grant enabled them to combine the resources of each of the Equator Alliance members.
“We have applied their expertise to develop a template for assessment of impacts of climate change adaptation requirements and greenhouse gas abatement on project development in the resources sector,” Mr Bonney said.
“The risk-based approach, on which the template was developed whilst working on a real world project, has since been adopted on a number of other resource sector projects as a benchmark for such assessments.”
Dr Dargusch, from UQ’s School of Integrative Systems, is one of the first researchers in the world to investigate how organisations can make the change to more sustainable practices and to a low carbon economy.
“AARC’s commitment to fully researching the implications of including greenhouse gas abatement plans as part of their EIS is good business practice,” Dr Dargusch said.
“The strength of the Equator Alliance is that clients have access to a complementary range of skill sets, which effectively mentor clients through the decision-making process to identify the most suitable emissions reduction strategies required to suit their business, and prepare them for implementing new systems and reporting.”
UQ’s research commercialisation company, UniQuest, along with AARC, Herbert Geer, and BDO formed the Equator Alliance to offer this coordinated client service.
UniQuest Managing Director, David Henderson said various industry sectors now had greater access to UQ’s climate change specialists, through the Equator Alliance.
“Queensland businesses are fortunate to have easy access to the breadth of evidence-based expertise available via the Equator Alliance to help them manage the impacts the changes will have on their growth and development,” Mr Henderson said.
The RiB grant was provided through the Department of Innovation, Industry, Research and Science’s Enterprise Connect initiative. The grant supports the placement of researchers from universities and other public research agencies with businesses seeking to implement new ideas with commercial potential. http://www.enterpriseconnect.gov.au/services/Pages/ResearchersinBusinessGrant.aspx
Media enquiries: Leanne Wyvill +61 7 3365 4037, 0409 767 199 or l.wyvill@uniquest.com.au
About UniQuest
Established by The University of Queensland in 1984, UniQuest is widely recognised as one of Australia’s largest and most successful university commercialisation groups, benchmarking in the top tier of technology transfer worldwide. It has created more than 60 companies, and since 2000 UniQuest and its start-ups have raised more than $340 million to take UQ technologies to market. Sales of products using UQ technology and licensed by UniQuest now exceed $5 billion per year. UniQuest also commercialises innovations developed at the University of Wollongong, University of Technology Sydney, James Cook University, University of Tasmania, the Mater Medical Research Institute and two ARC Centres of Excellence. As well, UniQuest can access thousands of researchers and experts and tailor a consulting or project R&D solution to meet the needs of industry and government. UniQuest is also a leading Australasian provider of international development assistance projects. Working with agencies such as AusAID, NZAID, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank, UniQuest has developed and implemented more than 400 projects in 46 countries throughout the Pacific, South-East Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Africa. For more information about UniQuest, please visit www.uniquest.com.au.
Unique to Australasia, the Equator Alliance brings together leading climate change specialists with international experience, knowledge and ability to help organisations comply with legislative, business and customer requirements relating to climate change. The Equator Alliance provides a cost-effective, integrated service that enables businesses to understand, adapt and succeed in the new low-carbon age. Formed in 2009 to optimise the synergies of UniQuest (commercialising research of The University of Queensland), Herbert Geer Lawyers, BDO accounting and advisory services, and AustralAsian Resource Consultants (AARC), the Equator Alliance is one of the few organisations in the world capable of helping clients with every stage of the emissions sustainability lifecycle.
www.equatoralliance.com.au
