Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Pocock, and thank you for your constructive approach to this debate. I'm happy to confirm that this government is not scared of accountability in providing detailed information on our emissions and policies across sectors. Under paragraph 12(1)(d) of the bill the effectiveness of the Commonwealth's policies in reducing emissions in the sectors covered by each policy must be included in the annual statement, and the government will meet this requirement. For example, the safeguard mechanism has a particular focus on reducing industrial and fugitive emissions. Our national inventory reports, quarterly updates and the official projections of emissions under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement already detail sectoral emissions. For example, our last quarterly report, released last week, found that, for the last full year of the previous government, emissions for the year to March 2022 are estimated to be 487.1 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The 1½ per cent increase in emissions over the year to March reflects annual increases in emissions from stationary energy, transport, fugitives, industrial processes and agriculture sectors. The report details the emissions of each of these sectors as well as electricity waste, industrial processes and land sectors. Our official projections look at changes in these sectoral emissions over time and at our challenge of reversing the decade of inaction, secrecy and denial.

These sectoral emissions and projected changes will also be clear in the annual climate change statements. We are already working with the policy frameworks for key sectors, such as our National Electric Vehicle Strategy and National Energy Transformation Partnership with the states and territories. The issue of sectoral emissions will also be a key issue for the Climate Change Authority's advice on future targets, including the 2035 target.