Context

• As the world faces an escalating climate crisis, cooperation between nations has become essential to achieving sustainable energy transitions.
• In this context, the collaboration between India and Australia has emerged as a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening renewable energy capabilities while addressing vulnerabilities in global supply chains.
• The visit of Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, to India in October 2025 marks a pivotal moment for this partnership, emphasising the urgency of moving from shared vision to tangible action.
• Therefore, it is important to outline how the India–Australia Renewable Energy Partnership (REP) can serve as a model of bilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, balancing climate ambition with pragmatic resilience.

The Urgency of Clean Energy Collaboration and The Challenge of Overdependence on China

• The Urgency of Clean Energy Collaboration
  • Both India and Australia are pursuing ambitious clean energy goals.
  • India’s commitment to achieving 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity by 2030 and Australia’s target of reducing emissions by 62–70% below 2005 levels by 2035 reflect a shared sense of urgency.
  • These targets are not merely environmental aspirations but strategic necessities for nations increasingly exposed to climate-related disasters.
  • The Indo-Pacific region, home to some of the most climate-vulnerable populations, faces an alarming rise in natural calamities.
  • Between 1970 and 2022, the region averaged ten climate-related disasters each month, and projections suggest up to 89 million people could be displaced by 2050.
  • Against this backdrop, the partnership between India and Australia is both timely and essential, offering a framework for resilient, inclusive, and low-carbon growth.
• The Challenge of Overdependence on China
  • Despite their ambitions, both countries face a structural obstacle: the concentration of the global clean energy supply chain in China.
  • With over 90% of rare earth refining and nearly 80% of solar module production under its control, China dominates the renewable energy value chain.
  • This dependency creates vulnerabilities that can undermine the world’s clean energy transition.
  • For India, the reliance on imported rare earth materials, particularly in electric mobility and wind power, has constrained domestic manufacturing.
  • For Australia, the challenge lies in being a raw-material supplier with limited downstream processing capacity.

The Promise of the India–Australia Renewable Energy Partnership

• The REP, launched by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese, aims to translate shared climate ambition into practical outcomes.
• Its scope extends across eight key areas: solar photovoltaics, green hydrogen, energy storage, solar supply chains, circular economy initiatives, two-way investment, capacity building, and other shared priorities.
• The inclusion of a Track 1.5 Dialogue, bringing together policymakers, industries, and research institutions, signals a recognition that collaboration must be both top-down and grassroots-driven.
• The REP provides an institutional framework to mitigate supply chain risks while promoting innovation and shared growth.

Mutual Strengths and Strategic Synergy

• The partnership’s success depends on leveraging each country’s comparative advantages.
• Australia’s strengths lie in its vast reserves of critical minerals, such as lithium and rare earths, and in its stable regulatory environment.
• However, its limited refining and manufacturing infrastructure highlight the need for joint investment in downstream processing.
• India, by contrast, offers scale, a young and skilled workforce, and an expanding domestic market driven by production-linked incentives (PLIs).
• Programs such as Skill India can train workers for clean energy manufacturing and maintenance, ensuring that the energy transition also becomes a driver of employment and inclusive development.
• Together, Australia’s resources and India’s human capital form a complementary foundation for a more resilient Indo-Pacific clean energy ecosystem.

Regional and Global Implications

• The India–Australia collaboration extends beyond bilateral gains; it holds regional and global significance.
• As democracies located within a climate-vulnerable Indo-Pacific, both countries have the opportunity to demonstrate how cooperative action can enhance energy security and sustainability.
• By reducing dependence on a single supplier nation and developing diversified, transparent supply chains, India and Australia can strengthen regional stability and contribute to a fairer clean energy economy.
• Their partnership offers a model for balancing environmental stewardship with strategic autonomy, an example other nations in the region could emulate.

Conclusion

• The India–Australia Renewable Energy Partnership represents more than a diplomatic initiative; it is a strategic vision for the future of sustainable development in the Indo-Pacific.
• By aligning resources, technology, and human capital, the two nations can transform shared climate ambition into concrete action.
• Chris Bowen’s visit to Delhi symbolises the transition from dialogue to implementation, a step toward creating resilient, diversified, and cooperative energy systems.
• Ultimately, this partnership illustrates how two democracies, united by mutual interests and shared vulnerabilities, can lead the global transition to a cleaner, more secure, and equitable energy future.