The Albanese Government has today released the March 2022 Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
In the year to March 2022, emissions were 487.1 million tonnes – 1.5% or 7.4 million tonnes higher than the same period in 2021.
We know that in lieu of a climate or energy policy, the previous government relied on a pandemic and drought to reduce emissions.
This data released today is the last full quarter capturing the previous Government’s record and it is not surprising that they were on the way up.
Even a global recession could only interrupt the LNP’s decade of climate policy neglect for so long.
And while the impact of this neglect can’t be turned around overnight, the Albanese Government is getting on with the job of creating the market signals and reforms necessary for a booming Australian economy on a trajectory to net zero by 2050.
The Albanese Government has already updated our 43% by 2030 target with the UN, and is in the process of enshrining that target in legislation, which has already successfully passed through the House of Representatives.
This legislation and Australia’s updated medium-term target has been wholeheartedly supported by the BCA, the AIG, ACCI and more as critical to creating the investment certainty we need.
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are now at 21.6% below June 2005 levels – the base year for our 2030 Paris Agreement target.
2030 is only 88 months away, and the Albanese Government will continue to work hard with industry, the States and Territories and the broader community, to turn this ship around.
The Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: March 2022 can be found here: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/publications/national-greenhouse-gas-inventory-quarterly-update-march-2022
