Like Australia, Germany has had a long and polarised debate about phasing out coal-fired power stations. Germany formed a multi-stakeholder group that negotiated a consensus to phase out coal power by 2038. A similar process could help Australia navigate the trade-offs inherent in such a change.

Despite a potential net zero by 2050 target announcement in coming weeks, it is increasingly clear that the Australian Government is not on track to meet such a target. Government policy shows no intention to reduce emissions, with fossil fuel project approvals even working to increase emissions. This briefing note outlines Government policies that are

The Avoided Deforestation Method is responsible for more than 20 per cent of total Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) that have been issued under the Australian Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund. However, the method has significant integrity issues, and the ACCUs generated by avoided deforestation projects appear to represent non-additional abatement. This has implications for those

A sustainable social, political and environmental response to the “twin crises” of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change will require policymaking beyond capitalism. Only by achieving a post-growth response to these crises can we meaningfully shape a future of jobs in renewable-powered industries shaped by organised labour, democratic values and public institutions. Anything less will merely create more markets and more technocratic fixes that reinforce the growing social and environmental inequalities that our current political system cannot overcome.

Welcome to the August 2021 issue of the NEEA Report, and apologies for the long delay since the last issue. Because it is nearly five months since our last issue, this new issue starts with an update in the NEEA estimate of changes in Australia’s total energy combustion emissions up to the end of June

In July 2021 The Australia Institute surveyed a representative sample of 599 South Australians. Respondents were asked which issue they considered to be the most important in state politics right now and a series of questions on a range of political issues. Results show that the three issues most likely to be deemed important by

The Australian Government claims that Australia is leading the world in achieving climate targets and transitioning to renewable energy. New analysis finds Australia’s energy emissions continue to rise, while productivity and decarbonisation rankings fall. Since 2005 Australia has maintained, if not slipped further behind, its OECD counterparts when it comes to the energy transition.

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,007 Australians about their views on the health and ‘in danger’ listing of the Great Barrier Reef.

Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund will soon incorporate carbon capture and storage projects. The design and development of the CCS ERF method lacks integrity and independence. The proposed method will allow industry to sidestep regulation, enable new gas and oil projects to exist where they otherwise would not have, and result in more emissions being emitted

Tasmania’s coasts are in trouble: climate change, overfishing, impacts from aquaculture, land-based run-off and plastic are some of the pressures impacting Tasmania’s coasts. Developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated State-wide Marine Plan for Tasmania’s coasts is the best way to ensure healthy marine ecosystems long-term.

All G7 members have sharpened their climate and trade policies to consider the use of carbon border adjustments. Australia should lean in rather than push back on the development of such a proposal while taking advantage of the opportunities in existing and new export industries.

日本語は以下 ↓ Japan uses a lot of coal. The 170 million tonnes the country burned in 2020 is enough to fill the Tokyo Dome 102 times over. Burning so much coal is a key reason Japan is the fifth-largest greenhouse emitter in the world. If the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, coal use

Woodside and BHP’s Scarborough to Pluto LNG project is the most polluting fossil fuel project currently proposed in Australia. It would result in annual carbon pollution equal to over 15 new coal fired power stations, and more pollution than the proposed Adani coal mine. The direct pollution from this project would increase WA’s total emissions

The Australian Government claims that Australia has reduced its emissions by 19 per cent on 2005 levels and is on track to ‘meet and beat’ its Paris commitments. This claim relies on creative accounting and historical drops in emissions that are unrelated to government policy and do not underpin a net zero trajectory.

Tasmania should position itself as a climate change leader by setting a target of net-zero emissions by 2035, underpinned by 5-yearly interim targets and sectoral emissions targets. Electrifying transport, buildings, and industry, as well as reducing residential and industrial gas use, and offsetting agricultural emissions will be key to Tasmania’s climate transition. Conservation of Tasmania’s

The US is expected to commit to halving its emissions by 2030, based on 2005 levels. In other words, they will reduce emissions by 43% from today’s levels in the next decade, despite plans for massive COVID-19 economic stimulus. The new US climate target will abate 5.2 billion tonnes of CO2 and be a significant

What is the Federal Government’s Gas-Fired Recovery Plan? At its most base level it appears to be a series of taxpayer subsidies to export-focused gas companies. The process for allocating these subsidies is secretive, with no publicly available criteria, or even policy documents answering many of the basic questions of what the plan is aiming

The majority of voters (57.4%) in the NSW state seat of Upper Hunter support former PM Malcolm Turnbull’s call for a moratorium on new coal mine approvals and a remediation plan for existing mines for the Hunter Valley. The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 686 residents in the NSW state seat of

The federal government can improve Australia’s low electric vehicle uptake through upfront purchase incentives, CO2 emissions standards, a 100% gov fleet target and correcting its own misinformation and modelling.

To address transport emissions, EV adoption is becoming a key component of strategies to reduce carbon pollution. Unfortunately, Australia currently lags behind other countries in EV uptake due to a lack of policies to decarbonise the transport sector and incentivise EV purchases. The South Australia state government says it wants to lead Australia in the

23 new coal projects are proposed in NSW, with total production capacity equivalent to 15 Adani-sized mines. Ten Adanis’ worth of these projects are proposed for the Upper Hunter. Local and international factors mean not all of these projects can proceed. A moratorium should be placed on new coal approvals while a coherent regional planning framework is developed for the Hunter. This framework should be based around a world with net zero emissions in 2050.

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill 2020 (The Climate Act). The Climate Act is modelled on the United Kingdoms’ Climate Change Act (2008). Similar legislation has been passed in New Zealand and Ireland, with Germany and Fiji currently considering similar

The Australia Institute surveyed nationally representative samples of over 1,000 Australians each month from August about what they think the most important national political issue is right now. In every month, more Australians identified the economy as the most important national political issue than any other issue (between 37% and 48%). Health was second-most likely

New research has confirmed that climate change is contributing to the growing problem of heat stress in a wide range of Australian workplaces.

Australia’s fossil fuel exports are more than double direct domestic emissions in CO2 potential. Such ‘scope 3’ emissions should be reported and included in government accounting. Mining lobby objections do not stack up and are contradicted by the actions of many of their own members companies. Emissions data release should be insulated from the Minister