Carbon capture and storage leader Tania Constable has been tabbed as the favourite to next lead the Minerals Council of Australia, with a formal announcement expected in the next couple of weeks.
The MCA is hunting for its next chief executive after mining giant BHP threatened to review its membership.
BHP is planning to move to zero emissions by 2050, and believed the MCA’s strong coal focus – driven by former chief executive Brendan Pearson – did not align well with its goals. The miner already left the World Coal Association after that group’s boss, Benjamin Sporton, encouraged the Turnbull Government to dump the clean energy target.
According to a report this week in the Financial Review, Constable is likely the top candidate to replace Pearson as the head of the MCA, with an announcement due to come in two weeks.
Constable is currently the chief executive of the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, or CO2CRC, a research organisation focused on the development of carbon capture and storage technologies.
Prior to joining the CO2CRC, Constable was a chief advisor in the Treasury, and prior to that she held various senior resources and energy roles within the Department of Industry, including being head of resources for more than four years.