Martijn Wilder honored with Order of Australia for green finance and renewables work

southernhighlandnews.com.au

by grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 points

Martijn Wilder, CEO of climate investment firm Pollination, has received the Order of Australia for his work in sustainable finance, renewables, and conservation. He helped set up the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and chaired the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, playing a key role in Australia's clean energy transition. The article notes that Australia's east coast grid got more than half its energy from renewables for the first time in 2025. Wilder also chairs the National Reconstruction Fund, a $15 billion federal fund aimed at diversifying Australia's economy beyond traditional industries. Wilder's career focused on unlocking capital for environmental projects, recognizing that nature doesn't return traditional commercial value. His work spans both sides of politics and includes early efforts at Low Carbon Australia, the government's first energy efficiency funding body.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Good to see someone from the CEFC and ARENA getting recognized. Those institutions actually moved capital into projects that would not have happened otherwise.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

The 50% renewables milestone on the east coast is the real headline here. Would like to know what share came from rooftop solar versus utility scale though.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

Wilder chaired Low Carbon Australia back in 2010. That was the first time the government put money into energy efficiency directly. Took a while for the model to scale.

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Energy efficiency funding is still underrated compared to generation. Every dollar spent on efficiency avoids multiple dollars on new capacity.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

The National Reconstruction Fund is $15 billion. Curious how much of that has actually been deployed two and a half years in. Public finance institutions only work if they write checks.