But the federal government’s latest figures also show a slight rebound in industrial emissions since March after a fall earlier this year,revealing the sudden changes in economic activity and greenhouse gas output through the pandemic.
The official figures showed emissions fell to 513.4 million tonnes in the year to June,down from 529.5 million the previous year,an annual fall of 3 per cent and the lowest level since 1998.
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Energy Minister Angus Taylor will release the report on Monday with a claim the results prove the government can “meet and beat” its commitments as the results are ahead of earlier forecasts for 2020.
In a statement,Mr Taylor said the figures showed the government would beat its 2020 target by 459 million tonnes and would also beat its 2030 target,set at the Paris climate change talks.
While the 459 million figure includes “carry-over credits” from previous periods – an approach criticised by climate change activists – the report shows Australia is ahead of the 2020 target by 316 million tonnes without relying on those credits.
The biggest change over the past year came in the three months to the end of June,when emissions fell to 122.7 million tonnes compared to 129 million in the March quarter.