Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has just staged a major coup in his quest to end Australia’s use of coal energy. The Wall Street Journal reports that AGL Energy, Australia’s worst emissions producer, has withdrawn plans to “disintegrate” its retail power and generation units (thus keeping coal-fired power plants running longer). ) after Cannon-Brookes bought more than 11 percent of the company’s shares. The rupture plan is unlikely to pass shareholder vote after the technology executive move, AGL said.
Both the president and CEO of AGL are resigning as a result of the failed split. The board of directors is also reviewing the company’s strategy and anticipating further changes to the board and general management. The directors want to offer the best value in light of Australia’s “energy transition,” the company added.
Cannon-Brookes expects AGL to close its coal plants about 10 years before the company’s goal for 2045. It originally tried to buy AGL directly with the help of Canadian investment giant Brookfield Asset Management, but resort to buying stocks after the energy supplier turned down offers.
The Atlassian executive’s boost for renewable energy began in 2017, when it learned of Tesla’s proposal to end South Australia’s blackouts by storing batteries on a large scale. He has long pointed to AGL as his goal. According to Cannon-Brookes, AGL accounts for about 8 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than all the cars in the country and more than some whole developed countries.
The stock strategy will not ensure that AGL closes its coal plants earlier than expected. Still, it is a relatively unique effort in the technology world to accelerate the shift to clean energy. Companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google and others have generally focused on reducing their own emissions by buying renewable energy or installing solar and wind energy in their facilities: the co-creator of Atlassian is trying to design changes to a whole country.
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