Anna Skarbek (born 1976) is an Australian businesswoman and former investment banker. In 2009 she became the executive director of ClimateWorks Australia, a non-profit group which develops projects to reduce

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...

. Under her directorship, the company was awarded a

Eureka Prize The Eureka Prizes are awarded annually by the Australian Museum, Sydney, to recognise individuals and organizations who have contributed to science and the understanding of science in Australia. They were founded in 1990 following a suggestion ...

in 2010 for developing a "low carbon growth plan" with applications for business. Skarbek studied law and commerce at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

before taking a job in

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's ...

's natural resources team, with a focus on coal transactions. In 2002 she became a

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

adviser to the Victorian deputy premier, John Thwaites. From 2007 to 2009 she worked as an investment manager at

Climate Change Capital Climate Change Capital was a private asset management and advisory group founded in 2003 by Lionel Fretz and James Cameron to support efforts to develop solutions to climate change and resource depletion. Fretz left Climate Change Capital at the e ...

in London. Skarbek sits on the Government of South Australia's low-carbon expert panel with former Liberal party politician

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson was ...

and

ANU Anu ( akk, , from wikt:𒀭#Sumerian, 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...

Professor Frank Jotzo.

Energy

Skarbek is an advocate for the decarbonisation of Australia's energy supply. In 2014 she wrote:

"Australia has more renewable energy options than most countries, and can achieve near-zero carbon electricity through renewables alone, or alternatively could introduce some CCS or nuclear in the mix."

Skarbek also commented that for countries to achieve what she terms "deep decarbonisation" by 2050, improvements are required in: advanced

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...

, reliable and affordable

carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

technology,

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

technology, high performance buildings and appliances, zero-emissions vehicles and fossil fuel substitutes for marine and air transport. Skarbek is a co-author of the ''Pathways to deep

decarbonization Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...

2014 report'', published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). In September 2015, Skarbek was the second witness to be called before South Australia's

Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission is a Royal Commission into South Australia's future role in the nuclear fuel cycle. It commenced on 19 March 2015 and delivered its final report to the Government of South Australia on 6 May 2016. The Comm ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skarbek, Anna Living people Australian businesspeople 1976 births