The Climate Council welcomes news that greenhouse gas emissions have stalled over the past year, but the Federal Government can claim no credit for this.

The Department of Environment and Energy’s latest data shows that emissions fell by just 0.08 per cent in the year to June 2019. 

“The suffering of our farmers who are destocking in the face of drought, and the hard work of the renewables sector have meant that Australia’s emissions have stalled,” said the Climate Council’s Senior Researcher, Tim Baxter. 

“Sadly, this drop is a blip. Renewables investment is set to dry up in the coming months. Our LNG exports are set to continue increasing,” he said. 

“We need urgent and long-term cuts to our emissions in order to address the climate crisis. This requires our Federal Government to adopt a credible climate policy,” said the Climate Council’s Head of Research, Dr Martin Rice. 

“Australians are suffering as a result of a warming climate because of the burning of coal, oil and gas. We are living with unprecedented bushfires, drought and heatwaves which have all been made worse by climate change,’ said Dr Rice.

“The solutions are available. Australia has extraordinary wind and solar resources. We must accelerate the transition to renewables with storage and we must continue to challenge the power of the fossil fuel lobby,” he said.

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For more information please contact Senior Communications Advisor, Lisa Upton on 0438 972 260 or Communications Officer, Brianna Hudson on 0455 238 875. 

The Climate Council is Australia’s leading community-funded climate change communications organisation. We provide authoritative, expert and evidence-based advice on climate change to journalists, policymakers, and the wider Australian community.

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