Australia is confident it could hit its emission reduction targets for 2030 without resorting to the use of credits for achieving targets under earlier climate pacts, the country's energy minister, Angus Taylor, said in a statement.
Australia used to claim credits for overachieving under other emission reduction plans to compensate for underachievement in the Paris Agreement, and this put it at odds with the UN, Reuters noted in a report of the news. Now, the problem will be eliminated, with Australia's emissions seen down 29 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. This compares with a target of 26-28 percent.
And yet, according to the statement, Australia's overachievement in 2030 goals includes old achievements.
"The Australia's emissions projections 2020 report, released today, shows that Australia is on track to beat its 2030 target by 403 million tonnes, including 459 million tonnes of past overachievement," the statement read, adding "Over the last two years, Australia's 2030 position has improved by 639 million tonnes (13.2 per cent of the emissions budget). This is equivalent to taking all of Australia's 14.7 million cars off the road for 15 years."
Yet Australia is now investing heavily in renewable energy, which could push it past its 2030 without relying on past achievements, the statement also said. Some $13.44 billion (A$18 billion) has been earmarked for advancing renewable energy technology over the next decade, and it could help Australia exceed its 2030 emissions target by 145 million tons of CO2, this time not including past achievements.
Australia boasts it is expanding renewable energy capacity 25 percent faster than the four largest economies in Europe taken together and ten times faster than the global average. Its province of Victoria recently became the site where the world's largest battery storage facility is going to be built, led by Tesla and French Neoen.
By Charles Kennedy For Oilprice.com
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