<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-is-making-mixed-progress-on-emissions-and-rapid-cuts-are-needed-says-cca/>
"A “rapid decarbonisation and expansion” of the energy sector is required to
meet Australia’s emissions targets according to the Climate Change Authority’s
independent analysis tracking the country’s progress on its current
commitments.
Federal energy and climate minister Chris Bowen sought to emphasise the
positive on Thursday when he delivered the national climate statement in
parliament and tabled several reports outlining Australia’s efforts to
transition away from fossil fuels.
With the headline takeaways flagged days in advance – without the underlying
data – the content of Bowen’s speech was not surprising: In his telling,
Australia’s emissions are falling, renewable energy capacity is growing and the
country is on track to hit its 43 percent emissions reduction by 2030 targets.
Bowen sought to frame the government’s efforts to date as laying the foundation
for changes to come, to push back against critics seeking to extend the life of
coal, and to attack Opposition leader Peter Dutton over his suggestion
Australia should embrace nuclear energy.
In recognition of the changes to be brought by the election of Donald Trump to
the US Presidency and the expectation his government will tear up his country’s
climate commitments, Bowen emphasised the need for Australia to “stay the
course” on decarbonisation.
“Governments around the world change. There will be heightened global tensions
and geopolitical repositioning,” Bowen said. “We must stay the course through
the uncertainty of complex economic and security challenges because we have a
window of time in which to act decisively.
“We must continue to act in our national interest – charting an Australian path
in this global journey.”
But the scale of the challenge remains with the Climate Change Authority
releasing its independent assessment of the country’s progress and finding
“mixed results”, prompting calls for a “rapid decarbonisation” of the energy
sector.
It found that emissions fell by 3 Mt CO2-e in 2023-2024, but will need to fall
by an average of 15 Mt CO2-e each year for the next six years “starting now” to
reach the country’s 2030 target.
Though CCA recognised that the Australian government had passed “significant
new policies”, including the Capacity Investment Scheme, the reformed Safeguard
Mechanism and the New Vehicle Efficiency standard, it warned that Australia’s
emissions were not falling nearly fast enough.
Matt Kean, CCA chair, said these policies were helpful but it was important for
the government to “nail their delivery” as “emissions need to fall faster to
reach Australia’s 2030 target”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
