As I’m sure this chamber is aware, the Paris Agreement is a collective response to the global threat of climate change. It has been signed by a number of countries, including China.
Senator LEYONHJELM (New South Wales) (14:41):
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, Senator Canavan. Can the minister outline the expected change in greenhouse gas emissions, including from land use change and forestry, in China between 2005 and 2030? What is the percentage change and what is the absolute change in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent?
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:42):
I thank Senator Leyonhjelm for his question and for some advanced notice of it. As I’m sure this chamber is aware, the Paris Agreement is a collective response to the global threat of climate change. It has been signed by a number of countries, including China. China’s commitment under the agreement is to reduce its emissions intensity as an economy by 60 to 65 per cent of 2005 levels. The advice I have is that China does not have official projections of their 2030 emissions, so I’m unable to provide a specific answer to Senator Leyonhjelm’s question. China is, however, one of the largest investors in renewable energy in the world, committing, I think, $130 billion to clean energy technologies, and it is responsible for over half of solar installations in the world. Of course, China is experiencing above average economic growth, which is a good thing for the world. That does, of course, also mean it has growth in emissions and reflects why its commitment is in terms of emissions intensity, not as an absolute number or level of emissions.
The PRESIDENT:
Senator Leyonhjelm, a supplementary question.
Senator LEYONHJELM (New South Wales) (14:43):
It is probably no surprise to the minister that I actually know the numbers. I’ll give them to him afterwards. Can the minister outline the expected change in greenhouse gas emissions between 2005 and 2030 in India, including land-use change and forestry, both in percentage terms and in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent?
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:44):
Like China, India has also ratified the Paris Agreement. Similarly, like China, its commitment is in terms of emissions intensity, at 33 to 35 per cent of its 2005 levels. Like China, India is growing very strongly. In fact, I believe it is the fastest-growing major economy in the world at the moment. So, as it grows and, hopefully, moves to the category of developed nations, its emissions will increase, as will its commitments in terms of its percentage of emissions per economic output, not in terms of absolute number of emissions like Australia.
India is on track to over-achieve its 2020 targets under the previous agreement. I should have mentioned—I think it was remiss of me—that China is also on track to meet its 2020 target. India, likewise, has significant substantial ambitions to increase its renewable capacity by 227 gigawatts, by 2022, and it’s on track to achieve that. They are very strong— (Timeexpired)
The PRESIDENT:
Senator Leyonhjelm, a final supplementary question?
Senator LEYONHJELM (New South Wales) (14:45):
The government wants Australian greenhouse gas emissions, between 2005 and 2030, to fall by 26 per cent. My information is that this represents a reduction in absolute terms of 156 tonnes. My calculation is that China’s emissions increases over that period will be between 15 and 40 times Australia’s. India’s will be between 26 and 47 times Australia’s emissions. Can the minister—
The PRESIDENT:
Order! Senator Leyonhjelm, your time for asking the question has expired. I’ll call Senator Canavan to respond to that asked.
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:45):
As I did mention, I have received advance warning of this question, so I can provide some information for the senator. First, I will just point out that Australia’s commitment to reduce emissions is to reduce it on a budget, from 2021 to 2030, and so the figures I have are slightly different from what Senator Leyonhjelm has just quoted.
I’ve been advised that our commitment is an amount of 868 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent under that methodology. As I mentioned, we don’t have official projections for China’s and India’s emissions. Indonesia have committed to reduce emissions by 29 to 41 per cent from business as usual. That will lead to 1,692 to 2,037 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. There is no official emissions profile for Iran.
