WA climate pollution continues to rise under Cook and Albanese Governments
On Friday afternoon, official United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) emissions figures were released for Australia, and Western Australia has recorded a second consecutive year of rising climate pollution.
In the 2022 to 2023 financial year, WA released 89.37 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (known as Mt CO2-e) - an increase of nearly 4% from the previous financial year. The official figures confirm reports that emissions were set to increase, following internal modelling from the state government indicating that WA was not on track to achieve its net zero by 2050 target.
Meanwhile, Australia’s national emissions also increased by nearly 3% to 453 Mt CO2-e in the same period.
WA’s sky-high totals were driven primarily by emissions from the energy sector, a large proportion of which is released by the state’s liquified natural gas (LNG) industry. This situation reflects the WA government’s refusal to set a 2005 to 2030 emissions reduction target, and the state’s climate pollution has now increased by 16.9% since 2005. This outlines a clear need for a WA Climate Change Act that includes a 2030 target.
At the federal level, the updated Safeguard Mechanism, which was supposed to limit climate pollution, has also failed to live up to government promises. Without an effective Safeguard Mechanism, we need effective state legislation to protect people from the impacts of out-of-control emissions.
On top of these failures to take effective climate action, the Cook and Albanese Governments have approved an extension of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas processing facility. This extension is a key cog in the Burrup Hub, which will be the most climate polluting project in the Southern Hemisphere, releasing over 6 billion tonnes of emissions in its lifetime – over 13 times Australia’s annual emissions.
To protect people from the worst impacts of climate change – like deadly heatwaves, fires, and floods – emissions must urgently and drastically fall in WA and across the country. To achieve this, we need strong WA climate legislation that includes 2030 targets, and we need all levels of government to replace fossil fuel polluters with future-proof, community-first renewable energy.
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