Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions last year were the highest on record when unreliable data from sectors including land clearing and forestry are excluded, consultants NDEVR Environmental said.
Even including land clearing, overall emissions show a continued rising trend, which began in about 2011, putting Australia’s commitment under the Paris Agreement further out of reach.
The rising greenhouse gas pollution comes despite continued declines in emissions from the electricity sector, following increased renewable energy generation and the closure of the nation’s dirtiest coal power station.
NDEVR replicates the Australian government’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory quarterly reports, but releases them months ahead of the official data.
Previous NDEVR reports’ figures have been within 1 percent of the official figures.
The latest NDEVR figures include the last three months of last year, allowing a comparison of calendar-year figures since records began in 2002, revealing that last year had the highest emissions on record, when those from land-use change are excluded.
Even including the unreliable land-use figures, overall emissions continued their overall upward trend, taking Australia further from the commitments it made in Paris to help keep global warming under 2?C.
It is even making its current target — a 26 percent to 28 percent cut below 2005 levels by 2030 — which experts agree is not yet strong enough to comply with the agreement, seem increasingly out of reach.
Last year, Australia’s total emissions from all sectors excluding land-use change came to 556.11 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gases, surpassing the record set in 2016 by 7.21 tonnes, NDEVR said.
Overall emissions including land-use change — which involves land clearing and forestry — were the highest since 2011, indicating a clear upward trend since that time, reversing years of declining emissions starting in 2007.
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