Australia's greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, making the task of future pollution cuts to meet international commitments more difficult, the latest data for the government show.
On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, emissions rose 1.6 per cent in the March quarter, the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows. The Environment Department confirmed the quarterly increase was the biggest in nine years.
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On an annual basis, the country's emissions reached 550.4 million
tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent, excluding land use changes such as
land clearing. That tally was up 1 per cent from a year earlier.Former US vice-president Al Gore continues to fight climate change tirelessly with An Inconvenient Sequel.
For the March quarter alone, the 138.3 million tonnes - again excluding land use changes - was the most for any quarter since at least 2001-02. If land clearing is taken into account, the total is the most since September 2005."This is simply a disgrace and a complete failure of policy, a failure the government has no plan to fix," Mark Butler, Labor's environment spokesman, said.
Under the Coalition governments since 2013 emissions had risen 6 per cent compared with a 10 per cent drop in the pollution during the 2007-2013 Labor governments, he said.
Interestingly, the increase in emissions has not come from the electricity sector, the largest single source of pollution. That sector is down 1.9 per cent from a year earlier.
Instead, emissions rose 5.8 per cent from the stationary energy sector excluding electricity, as the LNG industry ramps up. Pollution from industrial processes rose 2.8 per cent and agriculture 2.5 per cent from a year earlier in the March quarter, the data shows.
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| La Trobe Valley's Loy Yang coal-fired power station is among the country's biggest polluters. Photo: Paul Harris |
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| Labor's environment spokesman Mark Butler has called the latest figures a disgrace. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen |
"There is one test of a climate policy: is pollution down? Under the government's policy framework, pollution keeps going up and up," Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Climate Council, said.
"This data is just another alarm bell ringing that the federal government is choosing to ignore - all while Australia's pollution levels soar, driving worsening climate change."
Paris goal
This latest quarterly data comes about four weeks after the previous quarterly release of figures following freedom of information queries about their overdue release.
Australia is committed to cut 2000-level emissions by 5 per cent by 2020, a target it is likely to reach because of credits earned during the Kyoto Protocol period. The Turnbull government has also signed Australia up to the Paris climate accord, pledging the country will reduce emissions 26-28 per cent by 2030 compared with 2005.
"This dramatic increase is no wonder, given this government has failed to produce any policy to reduce emissions in the transport, electricity, industrial and agriculture sectors," Mr Butler said.
The Turnbull government has deferred a decision on whether it will set up a clean energy target for the power sector - which accounts for about a third of emissions - as recommended by the Finkel review.
Mr Frydenberg said Australia had "a strong track record" in meeting its international emissions commitments.
"Official figures show Australia beat its first Kyoto Protocol emissions target and is on target to beat its 2020 emissions reduction target by 224 million tonnes," he said. "Australia's emissions per capita and emissions per unit of GDP are at their lowest level in 27 years."
The government's target for 2030 is 441-435 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent, a goal that is not consistent with cuts needed to keep global warming to under 2 degrees versus pre-industrial levels, the Australian Conservation Federation said.
"Instead of trying to hide or obscure the problem, the government should instead be taking comprehensive action that puts us on a path to ending our carbon pollution," Matt Rose, an ACF economist, said.
The rise in emissions from the LNG export sector, heavy industry and transport made it clear the government need "comprehensive action" to address pollution, he said.
"In that light, we are heartened to see [Mr] Frydenberg talking seriously about implementing new pollution standards for cars that would bring Australia in line with the rest of the industrialised world," Mr Rose said.
Links
- Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: March 2017 (pdf)
- Greenhouse gas pollution up, released data reveal
- Australia urgently needs more climate scientists: report
- Warming limit of 1.2 degrees needed to save reef: panel
- CSIRO climate cuts 'devastating', almost 3000 scientists tell Turnbull
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