The Albanese Government has today delivered the first Annual Climate Change Statement, to transparency of Australia's climate challenges and opportunities.
This landmark Statement was a key part of the Climate Change Act and is informed by independent advice from the restored Climate Change Authority. It requires the Commonwealth Government to report annually on progress towards emission reduction targets and the effectiveness of government policies.
CCA advice shows climate change impacts are intensifying. Our country has always been subject to devastating natural disasters, but disasters like the Black Summer bushfires and now the nation's worst ever floods are becoming more frequent.
Climate change is a major threat to global economic prosperity, security and livelihoods and the window is closing on limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
But the Statement also highlights that Australia has abundant renewable energy and mineral resources, and as the world decarbonises, there is great potential for growth in Australian industries and jobs.
The IEA's World Energy Outlook (2022b) highlights that clean energy jobs already exceeding those in fossil fuels worldwide.
Yet for the last decade, climate has been used as a political football as the former government stumbled from one chaotic policy to the next. It was a decade of wasted opportunity.
And it left Australia unprepared for the current energy crisis, fuelled by high prices on global oil and gas markets.
Projections of emissions reductions by 2030 under the previous Government were at only 30%.
The 2022 Emissions Projection report, released today alongside the Annual Statement shows the actions and policies of this Government so far place Australia on track for 40% emissions reduction by 2030.
That is, we've lifted the outlook by a third in just our first six months.
These projections do not yet include Powering Australia measures such as some elements of the Powering the Regions Fund and the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, nor additional commitments such as the National Energy Performance Strategy.
Policies we received a mandate for, and are working on implementing including, will lift our result to at least 43 per cent.
This is cause for optimism about the momentum shift that has occurred over just six months.
The Albanese Government hasn't wasted a day, legislating the Climate Change Act to show the world Australia is open for business to unlock billions of dollars of renewable energy investment.
We've secured deals to unlock Marinus Link and VNI West through our landmark Rewiring the Nation policy and worked collaboratively with the states and territories to establish the first National Energy Transformation Partnership.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the first Annual Statement presents a challenge to reduce emissions and the unique opportunity to achieve it.
"The inaugural Annual Climate Change Statement shows we are on the right track, but it is also a wake-up call for the nation that we must stay the course," Minister Bowen said.
"Australia is one of the developed nations most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which means the stakes are extremely high.
"Reducing emissions by 43% is an achievable but ambitious target and we are going to need a collective effort and determination across all of the economy to get there."
Taking action now will position Australia to capitalise on the opportunities that come from a global net zero economy. New investment, new technology, new jobs, especially in regional communities, will come from exporting clean energy, products and resources to the world.
The latest quarterly update of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, also released today, shows Australia's annual emissions in 2021-22 increased slightly on the previous year.
The Albanese Government has accepted all of the CCA's advice and conclusions which emphasises the need for a 'momentum shift' in decarbonisation to meet targets.
The annual statement will be published here: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/strategies/annual-climate-change-statement
