Meeting Kyoto target not all good news

“In the next decade, emissions must be reduced dramatically, yet today's figures show that under current measures Australia's will continue to grow,” said Ben Pearson Greenpeace energy campaigner.

“The federal government cannot pretend that simply slowing the rate of increase of our greenhouse pollution is good news. Unless we reduce emissions in absolute terms, we are still tracking towards a climate catastrophe."

While the Government acknowledges that more must be done, it must also commit to an interim target within the Bali range of 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020. Greenpeace believes that Australia's interim target must be at the top end of this range, given that Australia is amongst the world's highest per capita emitters, and got a ‘free ride’ in Kyoto's first commitment period.