Australian greenhouse gas emissions down 1.4 pct in 12 months to March

CANBERRA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Australia's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 1.4 percent in the 12-month period to March 2025, according to a government report published on Monday.

The quarterly report on emissions from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said that Australia produced 440.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in the year to March, down from 446.7 million tonnes in the preceding 12 months.

Australia's emissions in the year to March were 28 percent lower than in the calendar year 2005, the report said. Under the Paris Agreement, Australia has committed to cutting its emissions by at least 43 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

"We are on track to achieve our emissions reduction goals if we stay the course and continue to lift our efforts," Chris Bowen, the minister for climate change and energy, said in a statement on Monday.

The DCCEEW report said that emissions from the electricity, industrial processes and stationary energy sectors were lower in the year to March than in the preceding 12 months, attributing the fall to technology improvements, changes in production, and a decline in residential gas demand.

Preliminary data for the second quarter of 2025, also contained in the report, showed that emissions dropped further in the 12 months to June 2025 to 436 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, which would represent a fall of 2.1 percent from the preceding 12 months and of 29 percent from 2005 levels.

The data was released as the governing Labor Party prepares to set Australia's 2035 emissions reduction target.

The Climate Change Authority (CCA) is expected to give its formal advice on a 2035 target in September, after which the government will be able to commit to a target.

A report published by the CCA in September 2024 said that Australia must reduce its emissions by at least 75 percent from 2005 levels by 2035 to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. ■