Australian data: Greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2021
Australian data: Greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2021
CANBERRA, Australia -
Australia's new government on Monday blamed the previous administration's inaction on climate change for an increase in the nation's greenhouse gas emissions last year.
Australia emitted 488 million metric tons (538 million U.S. tons) of carbon dioxide and equivalent gases in the last calendar year, up 0.8%, or 4.1 million metric tons (4.5 million U.S. tons), from 2020, according to the government's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory update for the December quarter released on Monday.
Factors that caused the increase included a 4% rise in transport emissions as pandemic travel restrictions eased and 4.2% more agricultural emissions as rain ended years of drought across large swathes of southeast Australia.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, whose centre-left Labor Party came to power at elections last month, accused the previous conservative coalition of relying on COVID-19 and drought to achieve emission reductions toward the end of its nine years in power.
"With the resumption of more normal economic activity, continuing recovery from drought and increases in manufacturing and resources sector activity, the previous government caps off its record of denial and delay by increasing emissions on the way out," Bowen said in a statement.
Labor was elected on a promise to reduce Australia's emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030.
The former government had a less ambitious target of a 26% to 28% cut by the end of the decade.
Some minor parties and independent lawmakers are calling for stronger action to limit global warming to less than 2 C (3.6 F).
By the end of last year, Australia had achieved a 21.4% reduction, according to the latest data released Monday.
Opposition spokesperson on climate change Ted O'Brien said Australia's emissions were now lower than any time when Labor was last in government from 2007 until 2013.
O'Brien challenged the new government to deliver cheaper power and to beat its target while delivering economic growth.
Tim Baxter, a senior researcher at the Climate Council think tank, expected Australia's emissions to rise further this year before the new government's more effective policies showed results.
"It takes a little while for these sorts of policies to flow through," Baxter said. "They could be stronger, but the Labor Party has some measures that will start bending the curve."
The council is an independently funded non-profit that replaced the Climate Commission, a publicly funded agency abolished in 2013 by the previous government.
The council recommends Australia reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2035. The government's net-zero target is 2050.
News of Australia's increasing greenhouse gas emissions comes as climate activist group Blockade Australia kicked off a weeklong campaign of disruption in Sydney by shutting down the downtown Sydney Harbor Tunnel during Monday morning's peak traffic period.
Traffic had to be rerouted across the Sydney Harbor Bridge for about an hour.
Police arrested 11 demonstrators including a woman who parked her car across the tunnel's south-bound lanes then attached her neck to the steering wheel with a lock and chain, officials said.
New South Wales state Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Dunstan condemned the actions of some of the 50 to 60 demonstrators.
"The behaviour of this group was nothing short of criminal activity," Dunstan said.
"The throwing of bicycles, the throwing of garbage bins, the throwing of other items in the path of police, in the path of media, in the path of innocent members of the public just walking by, will not be tolerated and cannot be by the people of New South Wales," he added.
Blockade Australia protest organizer Sally-Ann Brown said the disruption was necessary because policymakers were not listening.
"I got the feeling today that the public were not upset, the police were upset," Brown said.
Exposure to synthetic ‘forever chemicals’ often polluting the environment has been linked to the most common type of liver cancer, according to a recent study.
An Ontario nurse is facing charges in connection with the alleged assault of a two-year-old boy with “significant medical limitations” in Niagara Region.
Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre remains the heavy favourite to be the next Conservative party leader but he trails opponent Jean Charest for support among Canadians as a whole.
With inflation rising at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years, the cost of everything from food to gas has skyrocketed. Canadians across the country are feeling squeezed, but big families with multiple children are at times shouldering much of the higher costs — and changing demographics and consumer patterns have left some of them more exposed to inflation than in previous generations.
A new study found that people with regular menstruation cycles and those who typically do not menstruate either experienced a heavier flow or breakthrough bleeding after being vaccinated against COVID-19.
At the age of 13, Wyatt Sharpe has interviewed the prime minister, a premier, party leaders and cabinet ministers -- and he's not even in high school yet.
Donald Trump was being questioned under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general's long-running civil investigation into his business dealings as a flurry of legal activity surrounds the former U.S. president.
The ingredients in a 2,300-year-old ancient Chinese chemistry formula have finally been identified, revealing new secrets about metallurgy in ancient China.
A state of emergency remains in place in central Newfoundland due to out-of-control forest fires, but a major highway that had been closed for days has been reopened, allowing supplies to be delivered to stranded communities.
Ontario is set to introduce legislation today to give large municipal leaders so-called strong mayor powers as a way to get housing built more quickly.
With inflation rising at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years, the cost of everything from food to gas has skyrocketed. Canadians across the country are feeling squeezed, but big families with multiple children are at times shouldering much of the higher costs — and changing demographics and consumer patterns have left some of them more exposed to inflation than in previous generations.
Health Canada has recalled about 110,000 Canadian Tire cordless blinds because the not-so-cordless blinds pose a strangulation hazard for young children.
China on Wednesday reaffirmed its threat to use military force to bring self-governing Taiwan under its control, amid threatening Chinese military exercises that have raised tensions between the sides to their highest level in years.
Ukraine's air force said Wednesday that nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in massive explosions at an air base in Crimea amid speculation they were the result of a Ukrainian attack that would represent a significant escalation in the war.
A former Twitter employee has been convicted of failing to register as an agent for Saudi Arabia and other charges after accessing private data on users critical of the kingdom's government in a spy case that spanned from Silicon Valley to the Middle East.
Police announced a breakthrough Tuesday in the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, charging a man from Afghanistan – himself a Muslim – with two of the slayings and identifying him as a prime suspect in the other killings that put the entire community on edge.
Donald Trump was being questioned under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general's long-running civil investigation into his business dealings as a flurry of legal activity surrounds the former U.S. president.
Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre remains the heavy favourite to be the next Conservative party leader but he trails opponent Jean Charest for support among Canadians as a whole.
The government is working hard to meet its end-of-year deadline to deliver dental-care coverage to kids, the deputy prime minister said Tuesday, but added providing new services is 'complicated.'
Expressing concerns over the RCMP's yearslong use of spyware in major investigations, privacy and civil liberties experts say the previously undisclosed tools are 'extremely intrusive' and they are calling for stronger oversight and regulation of spyware Canada-wide.
A Nebraska woman has been charged with helping her teenage daughter end her pregnancy at about 24 weeks after investigators uncovered Facebook messages in which the two discussed using medication to induce an abortion and plans to burn the fetus afterward.
A new study found that people with regular menstruation cycles and those who typically do not menstruate either experienced a heavier flow or breakthrough bleeding after being vaccinated against COVID-19.
Two new features being introduced on WhatsApp, which will let you choose who can see when you're active, and to leave groups silently, will start rolling out to all WhatsApp users this month.
Snapchat on Tuesday introduced its first parental control center, nearly 10 months after an executive from the company told Congress it was developing tools aimed at helping parents keep their teens safe.
The ingredients in a 2,300-year-old ancient Chinese chemistry formula have finally been identified, revealing new secrets about metallurgy in ancient China.
Socially conscious rockers The Tragically Hip, eminent broadcaster Barbara Frum and music video visionary Director X are among the homegrown icons set to be inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
The Toronto International Film Festival is rounding out its Canadian slate with titles including a film by Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq, an Indigenous romance and a documentary about the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in Iran.
Firefighters on Tuesday finally overcame what officials described as the worst fire in Cuba's history that over five days destroyed 40% of the Caribbean island's main fuel storage facility and caused massive blackouts.
Falling gas prices gave Americans a slight break from the pain of high inflation last month, though overall price increases slowed only modestly from the four-decade high that was reached in June.
Wall Street roared Wednesday after inflation cooled more than expected last month, sparking speculation the Federal Reserve may not have to be as aggressive about hiking interest rates as feared.
A Little League batter rose from a beaning to console the upset pitcher in a dramatic scene at a Little League regional tournament game Tuesday in Waco, Texas.
At the age of 13, Wyatt Sharpe has interviewed the prime minister, a premier, party leaders and cabinet ministers -- and he's not even in high school yet.
Not only will Team Canada be playing on home soil when they face Latvia in their first game of the tournament on Wednesday, they'll be doing so during a period of intense scrutiny for Canadian hockey.
The World Cup in Qatar could start one day earlier than scheduled with FIFA looking at a plan to let the host nation play Ecuador on Nov. 20, a person familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Bolivia's decision to open an alternate route to its historic 'Death Road' - a serpentine dirt path across the towering Andes hills known for its deadly cliffs - has led to a resurgence of wildlife in the area, according to an environmental group.
Bicycles have long been a means of transport in China and once outnumbered cars on city streets. Now cycling is increasingly also seen as a sport by an urban middle class that has benefited from China's growth into the world's second largest economy.
The new plan to encourage Americans to buy more electric vehicles built in North America, instead of just the United States, has cleared its tallest hurdle, and for the Canadian auto industry, the stakes are enormous.
