Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Milne for that indication. We did have a discussion last night about the way in which bushfires—I think I described them as ‘extreme’ or ‘catastrophic’ bushfires—were reported. I can advise the Senate that Australia currently only reports its non-carbon dioxide emissions, such as nitrous oxide, for bushfires. That is regardless of size or source. That is as a result of the non-election we have made under article 3.4 of the Kyoto protocol in relation to land management activities. One of the reasons Australia did not elect to count land management was the problem of wildly fluctuating emissions due to catastrophic bushfire events.

In relation to the international negotiations, Australia is seeking a solution in the post-2012 international agreement to the issue of massive instantaneous emissions of CO2 from catastrophic bushfires. The same quantity of CO2 is later removed from the atmosphere as the forest regrows over a period of years. The issue is the fluctuation of emissions in a short time frame from such bushfires.

I have a long note here, and I am just trying to work out which parts of it Senator Milne may need. Australia and many other countries are developing an approach in the negotiations for a post-2012 international climate agreement that, for catastrophic fire events, those emissions would not count against the emissions target but nor would the country have the benefits from carbon removals in the burned areas in following years as the forest regrows. Under this approach, Australia will transparently report locations of burned areas and the emissions associated with the fires, even though the emissions would not count against the target.