Introduction

The Tasmanian Greenhouse Gas Accounts 2015-16 report monitors greenhouse gas emissions by sector and highlights a significant milestone for the State. In 2016, Tasmania became the first jurisdiction in Australia to achieve zero net emissions. While acknowledging this milestone, it is important to recognise that Tasmania’s emissions profile is subject to change and that ongoing emissions abatement efforts are required for the State to continue to achieve zero net emissions.

Measuring Tasmania’s emissions

Each year, the Minister publishes Tasmania’s baseline and latest emissions figures in the Tasmanian Government Gazette as required under the Climate Change (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations). This report, prepared by the Tasmanian Climate Change Office (TCCO), provides further information on the State’s emissions by sector.

The Regulations set out the method for measuring Tasmania’s 1989-90 baseline greenhouse gas emissions, and changes to the State’s emissions over time. The method outlined in the Regulations is consistent with national and international emissions reporting requirements.

The 1989-90 baseline is the total carbon-dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions for Tasmania for the financial year ending on 30 June 1990, as set out in the most recently published State and Territory Greenhouse Gas Inventories report.

This Tasmanian Greenhouse Gas Accounts 2015-16 report was compiled using data from the Australian Government’s State and Territory Greenhouse Gas Inventories 2016, produced by the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy, to meet annual reporting commitments under Article 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Article 7 of the Kyoto Protocol.

According to the Regulations, emissions reductions for the baseline and most recently published years are to be included for the following sectors:

  • energy;
  • industrial processes and product use;
  • agriculture;
  • waste;
  • land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF); and
  • any other sector set out in the State and Territory Greenhouse Gas Inventories report.

The Australian Government released the latest data on Tasmania’s greenhouse gas emissions accounts on 28 February 2018.

Due to the complexity of the data and calculations, there is a two-year lag in reporting. The latest greenhouse gas emissions accounts relate to 2015-16.

International reporting rules

The State and Territory Greenhouse Gas Inventories 2016 is the fourth prepared under the second Kyoto Agreement reporting period. (The year 2016 refers to the Australian fiscal year from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.) In accordance with international guidelines agreed to by the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Warsaw in 2013, emissions are estimated using methods described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and the2013 Revised Supplementary Methods and Good Practice Guidance Arising from the Kyoto Protocol. These methods ensure that the estimates of emissions are accurate, consistent and comparable with inventories in other countries. (Note: the international guidelines refer to Decision 24/CP.19: Revision of the UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual inventories for Parties included in Annex I to the Convention.)

In 2015, the Australian Government, as part of its obligations under the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, committed to an economy-wide target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. In its submission to the UNFCCC, the Australian Government agreed to report progress towards this target by estimating emissions and removals (sinks) according to UNFCCC classifications. The change in reporting from the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC affects the calculation of emissions and sinks from the LULUCF sector.

Each year, the emissions estimates are calculated for all sectors from the baseline year of 1989-90 through to the current year. To incorporate changes to the reporting rules over time, and to maintain usefulness and accuracy in reporting and comparing estimates, all emissions are recalculated yearly across all sectors, from the baseline year through to the current year. This means the emissions estimates included in this report cannot be directly compared with those released in previous year’s greenhouse gas accounts.

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