The WA parliament questioned the Minister for Energy regarding the state's greenhouse gas emissions policy, specifically concerning emission levels by 2030, reduction targets, and collaboration with the federal government. The response acknowledges potential emission increases and commits to working with the Commonwealth towards national targets.

AnsweredQoN 943Legislative Council
Asked
3 September 2019
Portfolio
Energy

QuestionView source ↗

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
POLICY
943. Hon TIM CLIFFORD to the minister representing the
Minister for Energy:
I refer to the Minister for Energy's
comments on 6PR on Thursday, 29 August, following the release of the McGowan
government's greenhouse gas emissions policy.
(1) Will the
minister confirm that Western Australia's emissions are likely to be
higher than the 2005 levels by 2030?
(2) Will the
policy commit Western Australia to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by any
particular percentage by 2030; and, if so, will the minister please table it?
(3) Has the
minister or another representative from the McGowan government discussed with
the federal government how Western Australia is expected to contribute to the
national emissions reduction target; and, if so, will the minister please table
it?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. On behalf of the Minister for Environment, the
Minister for Energy has provided the following information.
(1)–(3) The commonwealth Department of the Environment and
Energy provides annual projections of Australia's greenhouse gas
emissions to 2030 to assess how Australia is tracking against its emissions
reduction targets. These projections do not include state-based projections.
As
the Minister for Energy, Hon Bill Johnston, MLA, observed in his remarks last
week that environmental approvals for new major resource and energy
projects, including approvals by the commonwealth government under the
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, are expected to
lead to increases in Western Australia's greenhouse gas emissions in
the short to medium term.
The
McGowan government acknowledges the commonwealth government's target of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 26 to 28 per cent by 2030, and
commits to working with the commonwealth to achieve this goal. Opportunities to transition Western Australia to net zero
emissions by 2050 in an environmentally and economically responsible
manner will be considered in the state climate policy, which is currently under
development.

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