Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions increased for fourth year in a row in 2018

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise in 2018, according to a government report to the United Nations.

 Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions rose again in 2018,
according to the national inventory report to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

The submission shows again that Australia faces a huge task in meeting its obligations under the Paris agreement despite the government’s insistence it has laid out “to the last tonne” how it will do this.

The national inventory report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) says preliminary estimates indicate Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 were 537 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

This is an increase from 534.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2017.

Read the story from The Guardian by Lisa Cox“ - “Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions increased for fourth year in a row in 2018.”

PM claims Australia will meet Paris target 'in a canter' despite emissions climbing

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise, but Scott Morrison seized on the silver lining, maintaining Australia would meet its Paris commitment, despite the government having no legislated instrument to help it get there.

 Scott Morrison (left) energy minister Angus Taylor during question time.
 The prime minister said Australia would meet its Paris targets largely
 based on investment in renewable energy technologies. 

Figures released on Friday showed Australia’s emissions increased 1.3% in the year to March 2018, up all sectors – except land use and electricity, where renewable technologies were having an impact on the latter.

The prime minister jumped on the rate of the increase not being as high as in previous years.

Read the story by Amy Remeikis from The Guardian - “PM claims Australia will meet Paris target 'in a canter' despite emissions climbing.”

(The rhetoric from our PM amazes and alarms me as some of the best climate thinkers in the world suggest that Australia will not meet its Paris targets in a “canter” or in any other way, so either Scott Morrison is either treating the truth somewhat loosely or he is simply uninformed. It is agreed and understood that even if all those countries that signed up to the 2015 Paris climate deal meet their targets, and that is not only unlikely, it’s almost certain, then we are still likely to see temperatures increase by at least three degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, and that, it is known, will make large chunks of earth uninhabitable. 

Yes, MrMorrison it will be at a canter, but that will soon become a gallop as we charge towards the climate abyss - Robert McLean)