Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, has released Australia’s greenhouse emission results for 2006 and a preliminary result for 2007. “Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts show that Australia’s emissions for 2006 and preliminary estimates of emissions in 2007 remain on track to meet our Kyoto target,” Senator Wong said.
“But we still have a big job ahead of us to reduce greenhouse emissions.”
Australia’s greenhouse emissions in 2007 were estimated to be 585 million tonnes or 106 per cent of 1990 levels. This is an increase of 1.6 per cent from 2006. In 2006, Australia’s greenhouse emissions were 104.2 per cent of 1990 levels at 576 million tonnes. The Rudd Government is committed to reducing emissions by 60 per cent of 2000 levels by 2050. “Our emissions results identify some challenges. For example, strong growth in energy use in 2007 saw energy-use related emissions increase by 12 million tonnes to 378 million tonnes,” Senator Wong said.
“These results highlight how we need to change the way the economy works, to move it from a high emissions economy of the past to the low emissions economy of the future. “The economically responsible way to do this is with an emissions trading scheme – because it is the way to move to a low emissions future at the lowest possible cost to families and business.”
The Rudd Government will release a Green Paper on the design of the emissions trading scheme in July this year. Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts comprises four annual reports. The National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, the State and Territory Greenhouse Gas Inventories and the National Inventory by Economic Sector report Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions using the accounting rules for the Kyoto Protocol emissions targets. The National Inventory report is prepared for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change using separate accounting rules.
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