2016-03-18
The national emissions figures released today show the Turnbull Government’s climate pollution reduction targets are so bad that the government is claiming they are being met even though climate pollution is up.
Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens climate change spokesperson, said:
“In a sign of just how dodgy the accounting behind their climate targets is, the government is claiming to be meeting its 2020 target even though climate pollution is up.
“Land clearing appears to have been grossly under-estimated in the national emissions figures, with Queensland Government figures showing nearly twice as much clearing in that state alone than recorded in the national accounts.
“The Turnbull Government is using dodgy numbers so it can allow its big fossil fuel donors to keep polluting while claiming to be meeting its woefully inadequate reduction targets set by Tony Abbott.
“The Abbott-Turnbull climate pollution targets are so weak that Australians would still be the world’s highest polluters per capita even if those targets were met.
“Clearly the climate dinosaurs are running the Turnbull Government.
“Australians are demanding the courage and vision for a transition to the job-rich clean energy future that will safeguard our way of life from extreme weather and save our Great Barrier Reef,” Senator Waters said.