Revisiting Brisbane 2032's carbon budget challenge

Andrew McCormack:

Hello and welcome to Ashurst’s Business Agenda podcast. My name is Andrew McCormack and I am a partner in Ashurst's Project & Energy Transition Team

It is with great pleasure that I bring you this series of bite-sized episodes revisiting key talking points from our 2032 and Beyond Podcast Series.

In these special episodes, we will take a detailed look at a range of important issues that are relevant to the Queensland Government's recently unveiled plans for the venues, infrastructure, and transport planning for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games..

In this second episode of the mini-series, we examine the Queensland Government’s stance on the environmental impact of the Games. Previously, the Government has acknowledged that mega-events like the Olympics have historically carried a significant environmental footprint.

And it has pledged to work closely with Games Delivery Partners, to host an Olympic and Paralympic Games that will not only transform our region but also create a more sustainable, inclusive, and connected society.
Let's take a listen and revisit Ashurst Risk Advisory Director, Mike Duggan’s insights on how such innovative approaches can positively impact the Games' carbon budget which in turn highlights the potential for groundbreaking strategies to mitigate environmental impacts and set new standards for sustainability in large-scale events.

Mike Duggan:

Yeah, well, I think the principle here is pretty simple, and that's every saving and emissions that's made through these types initiatives that Andrew is mentioning will really be reflected in our states' and Games' carbon budgets. When they roll that up into the budget for the Games, they do the planning beforehand, they model that and then they reflect on it and they measure it at the end. Every single ounce of carbon that we actually save is going to be reflected in the downward pressure we see on that carbon budget

I think a couple of things, like you can consider this similar to your household budget in many cases. All of these things that you put in your own home such as let's say energy efficient lighting or an increase, your ability to be able to keep your home cool through insulation, all of those types of things are simple little changes that'll be made at a bigger scale across the various different pieces of infrastructure such as stadiums, things like transport fuels consumption, those fugitive emissions that come from ones that you can't even see, touch or feel that come from things like refrigeration.

To really capitalize on some of these energy and innovations, we're going to have to do a couple of key things and they all kind of revolve around this key word that you're going to hear come up a lot I think over the next few years, and that's scalability. That's the ability to take some of those examples of water efficiency and energy efficiency that were part of our stadium examples and be able to more broadly scale them up and out across a cityscape, across an entire state.

Things like being able to make sure that the suburbs that we live in can actually generate or store through battery electric storage, their electricity locally will allow us to be able to actually become much more energy secure and reliant upon energy that can be stored and used in a smaller space, which often cuts down on the amount of embodied energy or water that's involved in the movement of energy around the state or around the region. Those types of exciting things like decentralized energy systems and the ability for a community to actually generate its own energy, it's going to be something that we're going to see scale up and out across our neighbourhoods as well as be used within stadiums and those kind of centralized infrastructure to really turn the dial on how our emissions profile will look.

There's three kind of things that really stand out to me that are really key to legacy. Number one is really building on the vision of the future that the community really wants to see, and that's articulated in the document. You are really understanding and getting behind what stakeholders need and really require to see legacy be something that provides them with an ongoing benefit for many years to come, which is the whole purpose of the concept of legacy.

Aiming for long-term and impactful opportunities, so being able to understand exactly what is going to really change how communities are able to operate and feel success through things like the Games and the kind of opportunities that it'll leave in its wake, at the end is really kind of demonstrating that kind of a real genuine community benefit. And from these themes that have come out of the Elevate 2042, there's really, there's an augmenter of those. There's something that really powers up those three types of themes and that's really the integration between them and I don't see that being talked about yet. I don't see it as something that is really being able to be captured in the plan as of yet, and I'm not hearing a lot about it is how do each of those themes actually level the other themes up? How do they work together to create acceleration of what they're trying to achieve?

And I think that is where the real magic's going to happen is in the integration between those themes and the ability to level up the legacy objectives that they have. How are we going to be able to actually understand whether legacy's been achieved? It's another thing that I think they're really going to need to be able to identify as part of legacy and something that I see in my legacy of vision, and that is being able to measure and demonstrate the actual tangible community environmental benefit, and I think impact measurement in things like social impact, for example, is very challenging. Say it's not an exact science and it's difficult and I think we're going to have to get very nuanced and very sophisticated in how we're actually going to be able to demonstrate the outcomes of legacy to ensure that what we've set out to achieve can actually really be achieved.

And only then will we be able to understand whether we've been able to get to a point where the plan that we put in place has been successful, which is going to be an exciting time when we look back, we sit down. Years ago I went to the dinner for, I think it was about the 30th, 20th or 30th, I forget now, Commonwealth Games kind of celebration, and one of the big things from that dinner that you took away was an understanding that the plan that they put in place so many years before to create lasting legacy for the community was something that had a measurable level of success and that people were proud of, and I think that's going to be where we really see legacy come to the fore is the pride that the community feels in what they've created 10, 20, 30 years later.

Andrew McCormack:

As you’ve heard from Mike, everyone should be able to attend these Games, and I think that the principle of inclusion is something that should carry through to everyday life in Queensland and Australia.

Ensuring that all members of the community can participate in activities and events that most of us take for granted, present difficult challenges for a great deal of people in our community.

I think that we'll see in the buildup to, and the legacy of, these Games, a big focus on supporting local businesses and creating employment opportunities in the regions that are hosting the Games, as well as celebrating indigenous culture and heritage as we continue our journey of reconciliation.

By actively involving the community in pursuing these goals, the Games can leave a really positive social and economic legacy that should extend well beyond holding the Games themselves.

Stay tuned for our next bite sized edition of Beyond Brisbane 2032 where we will revisit our previous thoughts on Why and how Brisbane 2032 will use circular economy models.

In the meantime, to hear other Business Agenda episodes, including full episodes of 2032 and Beyond, you'll find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. While you're there, feel free to subscribe to Ashurst Business Agenda and leave us a rating or review.

Until next time, thank you for listening, and goodbye for now.

This podcast contains general information and does not constitute legal advice. Ashurst is not a sponsor, licensee, or promotional partner of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic movement, nor any Olympic body, event, team, or athlete. Nothing in this podcast is intended to suggest any such sponsorship, licence, or promotional affiliation.