Australia one of the worst emitters in the world: report

Australia has ranked among the worst greenhouse gas emitters in the world, according to a new report from the US this week.

The Green Innovation Index: International Edition released by a Californian organisation, Next 10, analyses and ranks the economic and energy performance of the world’s 50 largest economies.

The report shows Australia has the highest coal consumption per capita of any country, and with a ranking of 45 out of 50 for per capita emissions, we come out only slightly better than gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The report also showed that Australia’s total energy consumption is higher than France, Italy and California despite having a smaller population, ranking poorly for electricity use (45th) per capita.

Professor Will Steffen from the Climate Council has responded to the report and said it emphasises the importance of Australia’s role in tackling climate change.

“As the fifth-largest producer of coal and the highest consumer of coal per capita, we have a crucial role to play in helping the world to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change,” Steffen said.

“The pollution from Australia’s coal resources alone could take us two-thirds of the way to a two-degree rise in global temperature.”

The report noted some of the world’s largest economies were growing their GDPs while shrinking their carbon footprints as clean tech venture capital investment boomed.

“Globally, we’re now adding more capacity for renewable power than for fossil fuels, and investment in clean energy surged globally by 63% last year,” said Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie.

“Australia, despite being one of the sunniest and windiest countries in the world, did not crack the top 20 for share of renewables in electricity, which means we are missing out on the economic growth seen in places like California, where clean energy investment grew by 153% last year.”

The report also charts a historic worldwide shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, revealing 2014 marked the first time a conclusive drop was seen in global carbon emissions caused by something other than an economic downtown.

The Index report was compiled by Collaborative Economics for Next 10 in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) to be held in Paris this year.