Australia

Key Statistics

Cumulative CO2 Emissions from Energy (1990-2005)

Global Rank

16th
Per Capita Global Rank

7th
Percent Global total

1.32%
Tons Per Person
247T

Kyoto Goals and Status

Kyoto Target, Compared to 1990

+8%
Emissions Change (1990-2007)

+7%

Key Negotiators

Map

Copenhagen Positions

Long Term Temperature Goal

+2 Degrees Celsius
2020 Target

At least 25% below 1990 levels
2050 Target

80% below 1990 levels
Annex I 2020 Target

At least 25% below 1990 levels

Historical and Projected Data

1990 2007 2020 2030
Polluter Rank–Per Capita (Annual) 1 7th 5th*
Polluter Rank–Gross (Annual)2 16th 17th*
Total Annual GHG Emissions (CO2e, millions)3 416.2Mt 541.1Mt
Percent of Global Emissions4 1.34% 1.45%*
Tons of CO2 Per Person (Annual)5 23.6T 26.9T*
Percent of World Population6 .32% .31% .31% .31%
Population (thousands) and Rank7 16,956/49th 20,750/54th 23,939/53rd 26,056/56th
C02 Emissions from Energy Use (CO2e, millions) 259.2Mt8 372.1Mt9
C02 Emissions from Land Use Change & Forestry (CO2e, millions) -30.4Mt10 278.7Mt11
Responsibility and Capacity Index12 (Percent of Global) 1.54% 1.39%
G-20 Low Carbon Competitive Index13 (Rank/Index) #15/.50

* 2005 Data

  1. Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT). GHG emissions from C02, CH4, N20, PFCs, HFC, SF6, excluding Land-Use Change & Forestry. ↩
  2. CAIT, GHG emissions from C02, CH4, N20, PFCs, HFC, SF6, excluding Land-Use Change & Forestry. ↩
  3. UNFCCC, Summary of GHG Emissions for Australia (pdf) ↩
  4. CAIT, GHG emissions from C02, CH4, N20, PFCs, HFC, SF6, excluding Land-Use Change & Forestry. ↩
  5. CAIT, GHG emissions from C02, CH4, N20, PFCs, HFC, SF6, excluding Land-Use Change & Forestry. ↩
  6. U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base (IDB) ↩
  7. IDB ↩
  8. UNFCCC Annex I Party Common Reporting Format, submission of Australia, AUS-2009-2007-v.1.3.xls, Table 10s1 ↩
  9. Ibid ↩
  10. Ibid ↩
  11. Ibid ↩
  12. The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework, The Right to Development in A Climate Constrained World (pdf), p.6, September 2008. ↩
  13. G20 Low Carbon Competitiveness Report. (pdf) ↩

International Climate Policy

Australia has the highest emissions per capita of any country in the developed world, of nearly 27 Tons of C02(e) per person annually, driven largely by Australia’s heavy dependence on coal for electricity generation (75-80%), and is the world’s largest exporter of coal.

Australia, along with the U.S., had been the only two industrialized country not to have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, despite what was estimated to be highly favorable treatment in establishing the Kyoto Targets. Australia was one of only a few countries who was granted a growth target, set at 8%  above 1990 levels, and was also successful in securing a special provision (Article 3.7, second sentence) that allowed Australia to include their high levels of greenhouse gas emissions from land clearing in 1990 into their base year emissions, making the Kyoto Target much easier to meet once this spike in emissions had disappeared.

Prime Minister John Howard, who had been in office during the Kyoto negotiations and had stood with U.S. President George W. Bush in opposing ratification, departed from office with the national elections in 2007.  Incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that Australia would ratify the Kyoto Protocol on his first day in office, also  Day one of COP13 in Bali, with ratification taking effect three months later in March 2008.

Australia has announced a reduction target for Copenhagen of 25% below 2000 levels (only slightly above their 1990 base year) by 2020, providing a global deal is reached in Copenhagen to stabilize atmospheric levels of C02 equivalent at 450ppm or lower by 2050.

Negotiation Bloc: Umbrella Group

Participant in: G8, G20, Major Economies Forum (MEF)

Recent Negotiation News

Rudd Offered Key Copenhagen Role (The Age, October 28th)
Kevin Rudd has won a central personal role in the negotiations for the key Copenhagen climate conference, with the Danish Prime Minister enlisting his help in trying to inject more political momentum…”Leaders’ engagement is crucial to increase the political momentum around the world to delivering a decent outcome at Copenhagen – to capture commitments already made in an ambitious and comprehensive global agreement and to guide ongoing negotiations for the future as well,” Mr Rudd told Parliament.

Australia Can Reach Political Deal on Carbon (Reuters, Oct 26th)
…Australia’s plan for the world’s most comprehensive emissions trading scheme (ETS), scheduled to start July 2011, have been stalled with a hostile Senate refusing to pass the ETS laws.

The laws are due for a second vote in November, with the government making veiled threats that it will call a snap election on the issue if rejected again.

But deputy climate change minister Greg Combet used more conciliatory rhetoric at a carbon-trading conference on Tuesday, talking more of compromise than brinkmanship.

“I think it would be a positive public policy outcome were the government able to reach a good faith negotiation process and accommodation with the opposition,” Combet said.

Government/NGO/Think Tank Links

Australia Department of Climate Change

Australian Conservation Foundation

The Australia Institute

Recent Reports