After 12 years, Climateworks’ Head of Strategy Wei Sue will take her climate ambition to Australia’s largest electricity generator.

When Wei joined Climateworks as an analyst in 2012, she stepped away from a sustainability consultancy, where corporate appetite for sustainability was limited.

‘The business model required companies to pay for advice on sustainability,’ Wei reflected, ‘and at that time, not many companies were ready to do that.’ 

Wei joined Climateworks just as it was investing in its in-house analytical capabilities. Back then, it was a small outfit with 10 employees, punching above its weight in producing first–of–their–kind insights for decision-makers.

‘The type of analysis that Climateworks does is always pioneering,’ Wei said when asked what drew her to the role.

Wei’s interest in tackling climate change originally stemmed from her love of the ocean.

‘I’m a scuba diver and have always appreciated the natural environment. When I was younger, I got my diving license and saw first hand the effects of climate change, like coral bleaching. It’s so much more in your face in an environment that should be pristine and safe from man-made damage.’

However, it took a few years of working at Climateworks to understand the scale of the issue.

‘The concept of carbon budgets and the physical impact of climate change and species loss wasn’t as prominent when I joined Climateworks. So it was a few years in that I went from thinking “this is interesting” to “this is existential”.’

Wei was one of three analysts to work on the Industrial Energy Efficiency Data Analysis Project, a federally funded initiative to identify energy efficiency opportunities for Australia, and what was holding back industrial users from investing in them.

‘What we found was a lot of money left on the table in terms of energy efficiency opportunities.’ Wei said.

In 2017, after five years and armed with new insights on Australia’s energy sector, Wei took on an opportunity to return to consulting with a focus on energy.

‘I had just wrapped up Tracking Progress, focusing on the power sector – which we now call energy – and the industry sector. So, I was interested in doing more work in energy, but Climateworks wasn’t actively working in that space after that project.’

In 2019, Climateworks kicked off a new program, the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (Australian Industry ETI), convening leaders from industry and business to coordinate learning and action on net zero emissions supply chains.

A fortuitous meeting with a former Climateworker led Wei to join in a tour of Climateworks new office at 35 Collins Place. The organisation was growing and needed a larger space.

‘I bumped into [Climateworks CEO] Anna and [then executive member] Amandine on that office tour, and they said “if you’re looking, we’re hiring”.’

‘I learned a little more about the Australian Industry ETI and I said, “This is crazy, but you’re going to need all the help you can get so, here I am.”’

The program’s ambition was a big step up for Climateworks.

This ambition – to reorient Australian heavy industry, then written off as too hard to abate – appealed to Wei. She returned to Climateworks that year as the Program Impact Manager for the Australian Industry ETI. 

Wei helped set up the program for success, bringing in partners representing around a fifth of Australia’s emissions and securing funding from ARENA for the three-year initiative.

At this time, Climateworks was ready for its most significant growth yet.

The organisation was scaling rapidly, recognising its unique opportunity to drive system change across all sectors of the economy. Of course, corporates were a key system in this new approach.

In 2020, Wei was appointed System Lead for Climateworks’ Sustainable Corporates team, where she scaled the Net Zero Momentum Tracker’s remit from sector snapshots to a comprehensive overview of the ASX 200’s climate ambition.

But Wei wasn’t done. With two major programs successfully underway and eight years under her belt, she stepped up into the Climateworks executive team as Head of Strategy.

When interviewed for Climateworks’ ‘Five minutes with’ series, she said, ‘I saw an opportunity to consolidate all my roles – from analysis through to project management and then working with delivery teams.’

As Head of Strategy, she grew the number of Climateworks analysts, oversaw business strategy development, built the organisation’s program design capabilities and steered the first year of the Net Zero Academy in partnership with Monash Sustainable Development Institute.

‘Wei has been an excellent contributor to Climateworks, at every level of the organisation; a reliable colleague who can turn opportunities into impact.’ Anna Skarbek said of Wei’s time with the organisation.

 ‘We are proud of her accomplishments over more than a decade, and proud that she will now be applying her expertise in an important role in the private sector that’s fundamental to the clean energy transition.’

In 2024, Anna took three months of long service leave and Wei stepped up as acting CEO.

‘There’s a feeling there of “I’ve come a long way” since I started; the organisation has also come a long way since I started. It’s now over 100 people, that’s humbling.’ Wei said.

‘Acting as CEO came with its own challenges, but I also learned a great deal. I surprised myself because I didn’t expect to learn that much in an organisation I’d been in for 10 years.’

And now, after a decade of engaging with companies to up their climate ambition, Wei is ready to ‘walk the talk’.

‘It’s time to put it into practice. I’ve been good at telling companies what they should be doing. Now it’s time for me to go and do it,’ she said.

Wei will join Australia’s largest electricity generator, AGL, as Head of Decarbonisation and Customer Strategy. This role signals a significant change in the Australian market since Wei joined Climateworks 12 years ago.

‘If you go back to 2012, the market and momentum weren’t there. Governments weren’t ready to make the commitments they’re making today. The private sector was the same, which is why I had to leave my first job – companies weren’t ready to pay for sustainability advice.’ Wei reminds us.

‘Now, Australia’s largest electricity generator has a decarbonisation role for its commercial and industrial customers. That’s leaps and bounds ahead of what I could have imagined when I first started at Climateworks.’

It gives Wei great hope for the future of climate action. ‘If we can see that kind of change in a decade, the momentum will only continue to accelerate.’

Wei will wrap up her role with Climateworks in December 2024. Recruitment will commence in 2025.

Read more: