‘Glaring inconsistency': National emissions jump may be underestimated

Australia's greenhouse gases rose for a third consecutive year in 2017, led by emissions from the gas and transport sectors, according to federal government data.

Land-clearing is on the increase in Queensland and NSW
but national emissions are showing a decline, puzzling analysts.

Environmental groups, however, say the true emissions figure may be under – estimated because large-scale land clearing – particularly in Queensland and lately in NSW – is not being accurately represented.

The National Greenhouse Gas inventory for last year, released without fanfare at the end of last week, showed emissions were up 1.5 per cent compared with 2016 to 533.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent.

Read Peter Hannam’s story from The Age - “‘Glaring inconsistency': National emissions jump may be underestimated.”