While some debate exists around what defines a subsidy, the United Nations Environmental Program defines fossil fuel subsidies as financial contributions that benefit an external organisation. Like many other countries, Australia provides a range of subsidies that help prop up fossil fuel projects and profits. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Australia spent an...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia have the longest continuing culture on Earth. This culture is composed of a multiplicity of sovereign Nations interacting through established laws and customs for 60,000 years. These Nations, laws and customs all continue today. In the 2023 census 812,728 people identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres...
Australia is a major agricultural producer and exporter. Agricultural production covers 55% of the nation’s landmass (427 million hectares in 2020) and accounts for 24% of water extractions (2,746 gigalitres in 2019-2020). In total 12% of Australia’s goods and services exports were agricultural related and the sector as a whole account for 2.5% of national...
Looking Back 2022: Elections Result in a Pro-Science Government / Looking Forward 2023: Hopeful Cancellation of Proposed Fossil Fuel ProjectsIn 2022 Australians took the opportunity to vote in a new Federal government that expressed belief in climate science and a commitment to legislate emissions reduction targets. After almost a decade of entrenched climate denial by...
The National Electricity Market, Northwest Interconnected System, and the South West Interconnected System Australia has three separate power grid systems. The largest of these is the electricity grid on the east coast, which supplies and distributes electricity to Queensland (Qld), New South Wales (NSW), the Australia Capital Territory (ACT), Victoria (Vic), South Australia (SQ) and...
Australia’s primary database for tracking greenhouse gas emissions is the Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GGI), managed by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources (now renamed as Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)). The data is released on a quarterly basis and provides the most up-to-date information on Australia’s...
While the 2022 Australian federal election signaled a positive change in the way the country is responding to climate change, the country’s love affair with vehicles seems unlikely to end anytime soon. Australia has high rates of vehicle ownership, with the 2021 Australian census demonstrating that by 31st January 2021 the country had 20.1 million...
This post examines the loss and damage that climate change is expected to have on Australia between now and 2050. Assessments of climate change loss and damage are a key aspect of the Paris Agreement’s ongoing UNFCCC-sponsored Global Stocktake, an effort to assess the ability of the Paris Agreement to meet its goals. Loss and...
Australia has endured a series of devastating climate events over the past three years. The horrific bushfires of 2019-2020 captured global attention and an outpouring of donations to wildlife rescue and other conservation charities, while the continuous flooding of urban areas in northern New South Wales in early 2022 has led to billions in damages...
Quarterly data on energy use, agriculture, land use, industrial processes, and more available from the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory In Post 49, three indicators for assessing Australia’s progress towards its climate emissions goals were identified: Greenhouse gas emissions by Australian Corporations (annual), full carbon accounting model (annual) and electricity generation by fossil fuels (annual)....
