SOURCE: The Guardian
DATE: September 28, 2018
SNIP: Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, fuelled by the expansion in gas exports and production, according to new figures published by the Department of Environment and Energy.
The government quietly published its quarterly emissions figures on Friday afternoon, a public holiday in Victoria and the day of the release of the interim royal commission report into the banking sector.
The figures show that Australia’s policy vacuum on climate continues to drive emissions upward and further away from the country’s Paris targets.
The data show emissions climbed 1.3% in the year to March 2018. Fugitive emissions in the energy sector rose 13.7% in the year to March.
“On present trends, with virtually no policies apart from the renewable energy target, which will expire in 2020 and not be replaced, emissions are set to gallop way past the Paris agreement target.”