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Australia’s Carbon Progress

Climate change as a result of the enhanced greenhouse effect and pollution is no longer just a hypothesis. The Australian Government Department of Environment publishes Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts, which tracks national greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 onwards. Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are estimated as a nation, by state and by industry.

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Under the Kyoto Protocol, Australia’s first commitment required it to limit emissions in the period 2008–2012 to an average of 108 per cent of 1990 level emissions. Australia’s emissions were below this level, averaging 104 per cent over the period. According to the Climate Change Authority, Australia has made progress towards decarbonising its economy as its emissions intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) has fallen by about 50 per cent since 1990.

In signing the Kyoto Protocol in 2007, Australia agreed to stabilise its greenhouse gas emissions (for the five-year commitment period of 2008 to 2012) at no more than 108% of its 1990 (base year) emissions level. Australia’s initial assigned amount under the Kyoto Protocol (KP) is equivalent to 591.5 Mt CO2 (greenhouse gas emissions) for each year of the first commitment period between 2008 and 2012.

In the case of countries such as China and other emerging economies, overall global emissions have showed no signs of slowing down. In this sense, the Kyoto Protocol has been somewhat of a failure. However, every initiative comes with its own successes and failures, and the first commitment of the Kyoto Protocol proves to have had small successes as the overall sum of emissions with these set targets have dropped significantly. Though the overall number of emissions has not fallen drastically, without the Kyoto Protocol, emissions likely would have seen exponential growth as emerging economies begin to industrialise. The Protocol’s main feature is that it has placed mandatory targets on greenhouse-gas emissions for the world’s leading economies to aim for.

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