Chloe Munro Scholarship to honour “enormous legacy” of leader in renewables

A new scholarship to support emerging female leaders in renewable energy, energy management and carbon abatement has been established in honour of Chloe Munro, a leading Australian energy market expert who died in June from cancer.

The Chloe Munro Scholarship for Transformational Leadership was announced last week by the Clean Energy Council and Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning with the backing of 10 of the nation’s leading renewables organisations and companies.

The CEC said the scholarship was established in recognition of Munro’s “enormous legacy,” which included her role as the inaugural chair of the federal government’s Clean Energy Regulator.

“Chloe Munro had a profound influence on public policy and the development of clean energy, energy management and carbon markets across Australia,” said CEC chief Kane Thornton.

Her leadership in these fields was complemented by her enthusiasm and commitment to supporting and developing the next generation of leaders.”

Chloe Munro AO  headed up the CER for five years, first taking on the role when the Regulator was a start-up in 2012 and then seeing it through some of the most turbulent policy periods for Australia’s developing clean energy market.

After leaving the CER in 2017, Munro worked alongside former chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel on the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market, and in July of that year received the Clean Energy Council’s Outstanding Contribution to Industry Award.

In 2018, Munro was named as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to public administration through leadership roles in the area of renewable energy, water and climate change process and reform, and to the performing arts.

In that same year, Munro accepted the role of Professorial Fellow at Monash University and stepped up as chair to the board of directors for the solar energy investment funds of Impact Investment Group alongside fellow renewables veteran Lane Crockett.

In her own comments welcoming the new scholarship, Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio paid tribute to an “extraordinary professional career” including more than three decades of public service in Victoria and in federal government.

“Chloe had a significant impact on many critical public policy issues spanning sustainability, energy and water,” D’Ambrosio said. “This scholarship is an important way we can continue that impact long into the future.”

The scholarship will see 14 emerging female leaders receive funding to undertake one of two courses offered by Women & Leadership Australia in the first year, with further scholarships offered over the following five years.

The first round of scholarships will include four places in the Executive Ready course, a seven-month development program for middle to senior leaders and 10 places in the Leading Edge program, a four-month development program for early-career leaders and managers.

Among the contributors to the scholarship were the Australian Energy Market Operator, ARENA, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Carbon Market Institute, the Energy Efficiency Council and the Monash Energy Institute.

Companies that contributed included UPC\AC Renewables Australia Goldwind, Hydro Tasmania, and the Impact Investment Group – the latter of which counted Munro as chair of the solar division.

Australian Energy Market Commission Anna Collyer was also acknowledged for her own contribution to the scholarship, alongside “many staff from the Energy Security Board.”

You can read RenewEconomy’s June tribute to Chloe Munro here.