19 January 2010

Greenhouse Indicator Annual Report

A new report by The Climate Group has revealed that greenhouse gas emissions from energy-use in Australia's eastern states fell by 1.8 per cent in 2009. 

The Greenhouse Indicator Annual Report, shows that across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, annual emissions were 5.3 million tonnes lower in 2009 than the previous year. This followed a rise in emissions of 1.3 per cent in 2008.

Now entering its fourth year, The Climate Group's Greenhouse Indicator tracks the main sources of greenhouse emissions in Australia - those produced by coal, natural gas and petroleum.

Rupert Posner, Australia Director of The Climate Group, said:

"Any decrease in emissions is good news and 5.3 million tonnes is a substantial saving. If we were to continue to cut by this much each year, emissions from energy would be almost 20 per cent lower by 2020.

"Unfortunately, this isn't the whole story, as low rates of growth have helped keep emissions down. As the economy returns to more robust levels of growth, continued reductions will be much harder to achieve unless we start to change the way we produce and use energy in a much more meaningful way.

"As the country with the highest per capita emissions in the world - we need to be doing much more to reduce our carbon footprint."

Read more at The Climate Group's website.