Australia boasted a decline in greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, however the reduction was hampered by the ramp up of liquefied natural gas exports.

The Australian government revealed the country’s 2019 emissions fell 0.9%, or 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, to 532.5 million tonnes.

The government claimed this was 13.7% below 2005 levels, however it was higher than the 526.1 million tonnes and 529.5 million tonnes emitted in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

A steep decline in domestic emissions has been largely offset by the country’s rising export emissions, which accounted for 39.7% of the nation’s total emissions last year.

Emissions from exports in 2019 rose 3%, or 6.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which the government said largely reflected an 11% increase in LNG exports.

However, it looked to justify the rise by adding the gas shipped from Australia had the potential to reduce emissions in importing countries by up to 164 million tonnes each year, while also noting the energy exports would be vital to Australia's post Covid-19 economic recovery.

The rise in export emissions offset a decline of 2.9%, or 5.3 million tonne, in electricity emissions in 2019, while agricultural emissions dropped 5.8%, or 4.2 million tonnes, last year, although this was due in part to the ongoing impact of drought in Australia’s agricultural regions.

While the rise in energy exports offset the losses in those other sectors, Australia’s Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor claimed the country was doing better in tackling its emissions than some of its peers.

“When you compare our track record with similar export-oriented countries like Canada and New Zealand, we’ve done much better,” he said.

“Since 2005, Canada’s emissions have flatlined while New Zealand’s emissions have fallen less than 1%.”

In contrast, the government noted Australia’s emissions were 13.7% below its 2005 levels, the baseline year for the Paris Agreement.

When adjusting the figure to exclude emissions generated by exports, Australia’s domestic emissions have dropped by 33% compared to 2005 levels.

The Paris Agreement includes an interim target for Australia to reduce emissions by at least 26% by 2030, based on 2005 levels.

In order to reach that target, Australia is, controversially, likely to use carryover carbon credits earned from exceeding targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

Taylor said Friday that, on 1 July, Australia was on track to beat its Kyoto-era targets by 411 million tonnes.

Energy Transition

Oz reduces emissions but LNG exports offset larger domestic cuts