Climate Progress in Australia's 2024 Annual Climate Statement delivered by Chris Bowen

Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen delivered his third annual Climate Statement to Parliament today.

The Government set an interim emissions target of 43 percent emissions reduction by 2030 based on 2005 levels. And in this statement Chris Bowen says that the Government is projected to meet 42.6 percent reduction by 2030, and be able to exceed this target with extra measures to come. 

To help achieve this a Renewables target of 82 percent by 2030 was also set. The intrduction of the Capacity Investment Scheme means that more renewables are being invested in and built which will enable this target to be met. 

The government has introduced a New Vehicle Emissions Scheme that will start from 1 January 2025 and progressively reduce light vehicle transport emissions. 

The speech outlines the positive actions on renewables and energy transition already taken, critical minerals and steps to become a renewable energy super power. 

But the elephant in the room is that Australia continues to approve new coal and gas projects for the export market, which is not compatible with a safe climate.

• The continued approval of new coal and gas projects primarily for the export market. Scope 3 emissions are not included in Australia's greenhouse gas inventory
• The Safeguard Mechanism to reduce emissions of the largest polluters is built upon carbon offsets, which have integrity issues.
• Australia's carbon accounting is highly reliant on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) which indicates that there has been minimal reductions in many sectors other than the electricity sector. 
• Australia has not addressed Fossil Fuel Tax subsidies currently running at about $14 billion per year

This being said, the Opposition is pushing forward with a Nuclear plan that would be hugely expensive, risky, would expand domestic gas use, and would fail to meet the gap between when coal plants retire in the early 2030s and the earliest Nuclear plants coming online in the 2040s. Adding Nuclear to the energy mix would continue with greenhouse gas emissions from gas well past the 2050s, so would breach the Net Zero 2050 target. Nuclear is a distraction from both Labor and Coalition Parties supporting fossil fuel coal and gas expansion. 

Australia's second annual climate Statement by Climate Minister Chris Bowen

With the election of a Labor Government in May 2022, Australia's headline climate policies also changed.

The new Government set an interim emissions target of 43 percent emissions reduction by 2030 based on 2005 levels. To help achieve this a Renewables target of 82 percent by 2030 was also set. The government outlined that a Fuels emission standards would be introduced, but we are yet to see this.

The speech outlines the positive actions on renewables and energy transition already taken, critical minerals and steps to become a renewable energy super power. But the elephant in the room is that Australia has approved 10 new or extended fossil fuel projects in the last 18 months. 

The Australian Conservation Foundation has highlighted that Emissions from coal and gas projects backed by the Albanese government outweigh emissions cut, 7-to-1.

While Chris Bowen warned global heating will fuel political instability with national security implications, the government has refused to release a Climate Security assessment by the Office of National Intelligence, even in a redacted form.

Watch the broadcast:

Australian Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen delivers first annual climate statement in 2022

The Annual climate change statement to Federal Parliament was delivered on the 1st December by Chris Bowen, the Minister for Climate change and Energy. It is the first annual statement as mandated under the Climate Act (2022).

The speech outlines the achievements of the Labor Government in the first 6 months in addressing all the issues that were neglected by the previous Liberal National Party Coalition Government.

The last 6 months has been a whirlwind of starting to implement Labor's climate policies taken to the election. However, these policies overwhelmingly focussed on ramping up renewables and restructuring the National Electricity Market (NEM) east-coast electricity grid, with some strategies for encouraging EV transition and Fuel efficiency standards. Policies on Fossil fuel production phasout and addressing the 114 new coal and gas projects in the approvals pipeline were absent. There was also no commitment to phaseout the  $11 billion in yearly tax subsidies to fossil fuel companies.

Australia did commit to the Global Methanne Pledge just before COP27, and made several minor, but important, pledge commitments at the conference. 

The Annual statement highlights that the ‘baseline’ scenario largely reflects already-implemented policies and shows a 32% reduction in emissions on 2005 levels by 2030.

The ‘additional measures’ scenario is based upon two major elements of the Powering Australia plan, achieving the 82% national renewable electricity target by 2030 and the Safeguard Mechanism reforms. Under this scenario, Australia is on track to reduce emissions by 40% on 2005 levels by 2030.

Other Powering Australia and the National Electric Vehicle Strategymeasures have not been included in the scenario. The Government is confident that implementation of these and other measures will result in achieving the 43% emissions reduction by 2030 target. 

The Government is also reforming the Safeguard Mechanism to provide long-term clarity on emissions reduction of the top 200 major carbon polluters. The integrity of carbon credits will be critical for the Mechanism to work effectively. Up to 80% of Australian carbon credits have had their integrity questioned.