PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia’s emissions have fallen by 0.8% in the year to September, to 501.5-million tonnes, 4-million tonnes lower than the same period in 2020.
Over the same period, the nation’s economy grew 3.9%.
Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor, on Monday said that Australia’s emissions are 19.8% below June 2005 levels, the baseline year for its 2030 Paris Agreement target.
“Our latest projections show we are on track to meet and beat our 2030 Paris target by up to 9 percentage points. In the year to September 2021, 18.8-million tonnes of abatement were credited under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). The ERF has 1 100 projects and has delivered more than 106-million tonnes of abatement.”
Taylor noted that emissions from electricity generation had now fallen for five consecutive years, continuing their long-term, structural decline in the year to September 2021.
In the National Electricity Market, Australia’s largest electricity grid, emissions have fallen on average by more than 4% per year for the last five years in a row.
“This continuing decline in electricity sector emissions is driven by world-leading rates of renewables deployment. Since 2017, more than A$40-billion has been invested in renewables in Australia.
“Per capita emissions are at their lowest levels in three decades and are forecast to fall further by 2030,” said Taylor.
He noted that the production of exports for overseas markets generated 40% of Australia’s total emissions in the year to September. The value of Australia’s overseas exports has increased by around A$83-billion, or 23% in real terms, since 2013.
“When emissions associated with the production of exports are excluded, domestic emissions are 38% below 2005 levels,” Taylor said.