Today the Morrison Government released the Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: September 2020.

In the year to September 2020, emissions were 510.1 million tonnes – 4.4 per cent or 23.3 million tonnes lower than in 2019. This is the lowest level since 1995.

Australia’s emissions are now 19.0 per cent below 2005 levels (the baseline year for our 2030 Paris Agreement target).

These results reflect significant long-term structural declines in emissions from the electricity and agriculture sectors, and a temporary decline in emissions from agriculture (due to the drought) and transport (due to coronavirus restrictions).

The Morrison Government’s strong management of the economic and health response to the pandemic saw the Australian economy grow by 3.3 per cent during the September quarter. 

Increasing economic activity is flowing through to transport emissions, which rose during the quarter, together with emissions from agricultural production as the effects of the drought eased. Overall, emissions in the September quarter fell 1.0 per cent in trend terms but rose 1.7 per cent on a seasonally adjusted and weather normalised basis. 

In the year to December 2020, emissions in the National Electricity Market fell 5.6 per cent to a new record low. 

The continuing structural decline in emissions from electricity is driven by Australia’s world leading deployment of solar and wind. Since 2017, Australia has invested $35 billion in renewables and we are continuing to deploy new solar and wind 10 times faster than the global per person average. 

The production of exports for overseas markets generates 38.6 per cent of Australia’s total emissions. The value of Australia’s overseas exports has increased by around $80 billion since September 2013, reflecting the Government’s good economic management.

Despite upward pressure from exports and industry, emissions per capita and the emissions intensity of the economy continue to fall and are at their lowest levels in three decades.

The Government is taking real and meaningful action to reduce emissions, with more than $5.6 billion committed to new emissions reduction measures through the last two federal Budgets.

Australia’s Technology Investment Roadmap will guide $18 billion of Government investment over the next 10 years to leverage $70 billion of new investment in Australia in low emissions technologies by 2030. Our plan will support 130,000 jobs by 2030 and avoid in the order of 250 million tonnes of emissions by 2040.

Investing in low emissions technologies will enable Australia’s continued success in meeting and beating our emissions reduction targets. Australia beat its 2020 target by 459 million tonnes and we are on track to meet and beat our 2030 Paris target.

Over the last two years, the projected emissions reductions required to achieve that target have fallen by 639 million tonnes – the equivalent of taking all of Australia’s 14.7 million cars off the road for 15 years.

The Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: September 2020 can be found here: https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/national-greenhouse-gas-inventory-quarterly-update-september-2020

Media contact:

Minister Taylor's office: 02 6277 7120