Australians deserve the truth

The Australian government repeatedly tries to assure the public that we will meet our greenhouse target. But many are becoming very sceptical. Let's look at why.

What is our target

The target we set for ourselves, and committed to, is a 26% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 (compared to 2005 emissions). Yes it is a fairly weak target - taking a quarter of a century to do a quarter of the job - but that's a discussion for another day.

Today's question is whether we're doing anywhere near enough to get anywhere near it. Here are the government's own figures on emissions:

The start of the line is 2005 - the year we are comparing with. To reach our target, we have to get back to that level - and then another 26% below it. In just 10 years.

It's been 15 years so far and the only meaningful decrease was in the carbon price period. We'd need to do at least as well as that for the next decade to even get close.

So what are we doing?

The section marked "Emission Reduction Fund" seems to have no reductions at all and this is the policy the government wants to stick with (although with less annual funding).

It's no wonder that dozens of the country’s leading climate and energy experts have signed a joint statement stressing that without further action Australia will not meet its 2030 pollution reduction target.

Something needs to change. Big time. Otherwise we'll be far closer to 26% more emissions rather than 26% less.