The increasing influence of corporate social responsibility means that a successful business must give community and environmental concerns equal billing with profitability Henness said.

“This is becoming known as the ‘triple bottom line,’ and will be the driver in all successful energy, mining and business ventures in the future,” said Henness.

Henness outlined the sustainability drivers behind Delta’s strategic direction and congratulated the CCSD on the relevance of its research program in supporting the transition to a more sustainable energy future.

“The research program is well placed to play a role in new generation investment and technology mix by providing generators, policy makers and regulators with authoritative technology reviews in the context of sustainable development,” he said.

The conference provided a forum for speakers to present updates on sustainable development drivers in business decision making, coal in sustainable development, systems integration with coal technologies and environmental impact and climate science updates.

Frank van Schagen, CCSD chief executive officer, updated delegates on the details of the research that will help define the future place of coal as an energy source.

He said the CCSD’s first year of operations had been promising in terms of defining the way in which scientific research can assist the needs of industry, the community and the environment.

“The CCSD research agenda will enable coal to position itself in a world that will demand energy with close to zero greenhouse gas emissions,” van Schagen said.

Guest speaker, Dr Rick Bailey, CSIRO, said that greenhouse gas emissions had caused world average temperatures to rise in the order of one degree since 1910.

“Now is the time to implement emissions reduction technologies with the continued underpinning by good science, as we work towards improving climate change,” Dr Bailey said.