How Australia's largest industrial companies are tracking on emissions
18.05.2026 - 01:24
Mandala's analysis examines how emissions from Australia's largest listed industrial companies have shifted between 2020 and 2025.
Mandala's analysis follows earlier work on transport and electricity generation. It examines how emissions from Australia's largest listed industrial companies have tracked from 2020 to 2025. Emissions from industrial activities account for more than 30 per cent of Australia's gross emissions, making the sector central to any credible net zero pathway.
Drawing on global sustainability reporting from the top 20 ASX-listed industrial companies, the analysis finds around half reported lower Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in FY25 than in FY20. In aggregate, emissions across the cohort fell by approximately 4 per cent, driven by a mix of fuel switching, energy efficiency improvements, process electrification, and portfolio changes through capacity reductions, plant closures and M&A activity.
Performance varies significantly by company - some have materially reduced emissions while others have grown them substantially. Meeting Australia's net zero commitment will require deeper investment in industrial decarbonisation and reduced fossil fuel reliance. The size of corporate commitments matters, but so too does their conversion into delivered emissions reductions over the next decade.
Sustainability reporting – Absolute scope 1 and scope 2 emissions change
TOP 20 ASX INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES – FY20 to FY25
Read the full research note here.
Read our latest posts
Time to make a difference: Economic and fiscal benefits of Preventive Care+
Mandala's latest research, prepared for the Australian Self-Care Alliance, examines the economic and fiscal case for Preventive Care+, a proposed health assessment and coaching program for Australians aged 55 to 59. The research finds that early detection and self-care could deliver $233 million in combined health, income and fiscal benefits per cohort over ten years, including $26 million in net health system savings from delaying the progression of four common chronic conditions. Participants could also remain in the workforce for one to three additional years, generating $159 million in additional income, $19 million in additional superannuation contributions and $29 million in additional tax receipts per cohort over ten years. There are funded health checks for 45 to 49-year olds and 75 year-olds, but not for people in their late 50s, a period when chronic conditions frequently emerge and worsen. This report sets out the potential benefits of instituting a health assessment and a coaching program to intervene at a time that can yield meaningful outcomes.
23 Jul, 2026
Unlocking a Virtuous Cycle: Overcoming Barriers to AI in Australian Energy Systems
Mandala's latest research, developed in partnership with Microsoft, examines the barriers to transformative AI adoption in Australia's electricity system. The research finds that AI is one of the few tools able to unlock capacity and efficiency from the existing grid without waiting on new transmission and generation capacity, yet adoption today remains incremental. Three soft barriers, a lack of shared strategy, weak investment incentives and siloed data, are constraining Australia's ability to capture this potential. Overcoming them will require joint action from government, the technology industry and energy utilities to prove AI's value, align policy settings and fund pilots through to deployment.
8 Jul, 2026
Demonstrating the local benefits of AI infrastructure in Wisconsin
Mandala's latest research, prepared for Microsoft, examines the economic impact of hyperscale data center investment on Wisconsin's communities, businesses, and workforce. The research finds that committed data center projects will channel $16.5 billion to local suppliers, support more than 9,000 jobs during construction, and generate lasting economic activity across every county in the state, thereby extending Wisconsin's long tradition of industrial leadership into the AI era.
1 Jul, 2026
The essential infrastructure: How Australian banks power the economy
Mandala's latest research, prepared for the Australian Banking Association, examines the often-hidden role Australian banks play in supporting households, businesses and the broader economy. The research finds that banks are deeply embedded in the financial lives of Australians - as lenders, as community investors, through the jobs they generate and increasingly as assets owned by Australians themselves through shares and superannuation. From financing homes and small businesses to supporting regional communities through hardship and disaster, the report builds a picture of a sector whose success is broadly shared across the Australian population.
17 Jun, 2026