https://www.theguardian.

com/environment/2019/jun/06/australias-
emissions-still-rising-says-report-withheld-in-defiance-of-senate-order

Australia's emissions still rising, says report

withheld in defiance of Senate order
Data showing 0.7% rise in 2018 published a week late and only after
minister discloses it to the Australian

The latest report shows Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

Lisa Cox
Thu 6 Jun 2019 13.48 AEST

[1] Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing, according to a government report that
was withheld for a week in defiance of a Senate order.
[2] The environment department published its emissions data for the December 2018 quarter on
Thursday morning, but only after the energy and emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor,
first disclosed information from the report in an interview with the Australian.
[3] The data had been due to be published last Friday, under a deadline that was set by the Senate
to stop delays in the publication of Australia’s national carbon pollution figures.
[4] Labor and the Greens have criticised the process by which the figures were released and
warned it would be pursued in parliament.
[5] “Angus Taylor has shown his true colours in his first outing as minister for emissions
reduction,” Labor’s climate and energy spokesman, Mark Butler, said.
[6] The latest report shows Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing, driven by
rising emissions across several sectors of the economy including transport and liquefied natural
gas production.
[7] The figures show emissions rose by 3.5 m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, or 0.7%, in the
year to December 2018.
[8] Emissions in the electricity and agriculture sectors were down but those falls were wiped out
by increases across every other sector.
[9] Australia’s emissions have been rising since the abolition of the carbon tax. The government’s
emissions reduction fund – rebadged before the election as the climate solutions fund – has
failed to stall increases in Australia’s overall emissions.
[10] The quarterly seasonally adjusted and weather-normalised figures – which is a statistical tool
that takes into account that emissions go up and down due to household and commercial
heating and cooling – show emissions increased from the September quarter to the December
quarter, something that is typically expected on this measure.
[11] But the unadjusted data, which should normally show a reasonable drop in emissions from the
September quarter to the December quarter, shows only a slight decrease.
[12] “It’s barely a drop,” Tim Baxter, of the Climate and Energy College at Melbourne University,
said.

[13] On the annual figures, which are up, Baxter said: “2018 was higher than 2017. 2017 was higher
than 2016. This is the wrong way. We’re going in the wrong direction to meet our Paris
commitments, let alone deal with climate change.”
[14] Labor and the Greens said the government, which published the figures on a day still
dominated by news of Wednesday’s AFP raids on the ABC, was trying to avoid scrutiny of its
track record.
[15] “Not only did he not release the emissions data by the deadline set by the Senate last Friday,
today’s release shows once again why the Liberals will try every trick in the book to avoid
scrutiny of their record on tackling climate change,” Butler said.
[16] “As expected under the Liberals carbon emissions continue to rise, once again exposing the
government’s lie that Australia is ‘on track’ to meet even the Liberals’ weak emission reduction
targets.”
[17] The Greens climate spokesman, Adam Bandt, said the minister had “continued his contempt of
the parliament, seemingly dropping the pollution figures to the Murdoch media before making
them public”.
[18] “This whole process has been outrageous and we will pursue the government and the
department to get answers. There needs to be consequences for breaching the Senate’s
orders.
[19] “This latest report confirms that investment in wind and solar is continuing to drive down
pollution in the electricity sector, but we need to be exporting renewable energy too, not fossil
fuels, or pollution will keep rising.”
[20] In a media release, Taylor argued that while Australia’s emissions were up, exports of LNG from
Australia were contributing to emissions reductions elsewhere because they “were displacing
coal”.
[21] “Australia’s total LNG exports have the potential to lower emissions in importing countries by
around 148 Mt CO2-e in 2018 by displacing coal consumption in those countries,” he said.
[22] “This is a substantial global contribution to be proud of. The Morrison government is not going
to trash successful Australian export industries that are reducing global emissions, in order to
reduce Australian emissions.”
[23] The government has also been vocal in its support of the Adani Carmichael project, a coalmine
with product intended for export overseas.
[24] Matt Drum is the managing director of Ndevr Environmental, an emissions-tracking
organisation that replicates the federal government’s national greenhouse gas inventory
quarterly reports but releases them months ahead of the official data.
[25] The organisation forecast the latest increase months ago, correctly projecting that drops in
emissions in the electricity sector would be wiped out by increases in other industries.
[26] “Again, electricity emissions have decreased. These figures demonstrate they’re not the real
problem with regards to absolute emissions,” Drum said.
[27] He said the Coalition’s policy was not enough to bring the economy-wide changes that were
needed to reduce Australia’s emissions and work with other countries to avoid the worst
effects of the climate crisis.
[28] “These results indicate the newly re-elected Coalition government is still going to have to do
something different and more expansive in climate policy,” Drum said.
[29] “Theoretically, adding money to the emissions reduction fund will help to stimulate the carbon
offset market. However, it isn’t enough to reduce total emissions.
[30] “Something needs to be be done to reduce our ever-increasing emissions from transport,
fugitives and every other industry that keeps increasing.”