Transition pathways for Australia

Abstract

Australia's per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decreased from 30.8 tCO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents) in 2005 to 18.6 tCO2e in 2022 by 60%, due to a significant decline in coal combustion and reduced emissions from Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry, which started to turn negative in 2016. The power sector was responsible for more than 49% of all energy related CO2 emissions in 2022, followed by transport (about 24%), industry (20%) and buildings (7.3%). With the current Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), Australia increased the 2030 target from 26%-28% GHG emission reduction compared to 2005 (published in 2015) to 43% (published in 2022). In Dec. 2023, the federal government stated, based on projections, that Australia is broadly on track to meet this target. Ambitious scenarios focus primarily on a transformation in mining and industry through new processes based on renewable energies (RES), the decarbonization of the electricity supply and efficiency measures and strategies for electrification in all areas of application (especially transport and buildings).