If you think emissions are coming down in Australia, think again. Governments are covering up the awful truth that there has been barely any progress in reducing emissions in the last four years.
Renewable power has only reached 17.91%, fossil fuel extractions are still getting approved, subsidies are still in place, 500,000 ha. of land is cleared every year, houses and cars are now much bigger and electrification is held up by the slow pace of building the power grid. Accounting tricks like exemptions, dodgy carbon credits and safeguard mechanisms such as ‘avoided deforestation’ and carbon capture projects all seriously undermine emissions reduction.
The fact is that true emission reductions are miniscule – an average cut of less than 1% each year over the last three years under Labor.
The PM says he is dedicated to climate change but the rhetoric is vague. Decarbonisation efforts have been con job. Emissions are still flatlining as the globe hurtles towards 3 degrees of warming.
The 16 latest quarterly reports on Australia’s emissions reductions show a total drop of just 2.55% over the last four years.
For Labor’s promise to achieve a target of 62% to 70% by 2035, emissions would have to be cut by 7.6% to 8.1% every year. It can’t be done with business as usual and there are few clues in the government’s 2035 Targets Advice as to how or when it might be done. Climate Action Tracker rates Australia’s efforts as 'Insufficient'.
Because we can expect more extreme weather events, the targets will get more difficult every year.
And now, Donald Trump gives licence to all those wild deniers and countries that profit from fossil fuels, including Australia.
Will the Labor Government keep selling out on both climate and security? Here’s what Admiral Chris Barrie AC (Retd) says:
It is not good enough to simply say we disagree with Donald Trump. Climate change is a core national and international security threat, and Australia must lead in building a high-ambition coalition of nations, particularly across the Pacific and Asia.
Australia’s credibility also depends on ending the madness of approving new coal and gas export licences—a policy completely at odds with any serious security posture.
AUKUS is supposed to be about protecting Australians’ security. Yet partnering with a US administration that is now hell-bent on driving climate disruption risks aligning ourselves with a government whose actions could push the world into permanent chaos and systemic security breakdown.
The facts are that under Trump we can no longer trust America on security, climate change, on aid, women’s rights, democracy, health, AUKUS and the inevitable push for Australia to spend more on arms and expand American bases to our shores. Australia was once a peacemaker, now a sad, compromised follower.
A selfie with Trump is about as demeaning as any PM could get.
Other countries
The EU cut its emissions in 2023 by 8% then 2.9% in 2024. The UK has sustained a reduction in emissions of 2.5% each year for the last decade.
Canada has put a price on carbon, has detailed actions across the board and decreased emissions by 8.5% in 2023.
China’s emissions are still rising and expected to plateau by 2028. See here for progress in other countries.
Latest 13 quarterly reports on emissions reductions:
Mar 2025 -0.4%
Dec 2024 +0.05%
Sept 2024 -0.5%
Jun 2024 -0.7%
Mar 2024 -0.6%
Dec 2023 -0.5%
Sept 2023 -0.5%
Jun 2023 +0.8%
Mar 2023 +0.1%
Dec 2022 -0.4%
Sept 2022 +0.1%
Jun 2022 +0.1%
Mar 2022 +1.5%
Total -0.95%
