Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action

Victorian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 2021

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (16:26): I rise today to speak on the government’s response to the Victorian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 2021, the response tabled in November 2023. I speak to and update the house on the ongoing work this government is doing to drive down emissions and create a cleaner Victoria for all Victorians. I want to start by thanking DEECA, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, for compiling the report in the first place, their continued work in supporting government and their continued commitment to providing Victorians with the power that they need, a power of information in fact. This report is the sixth in a series of annual emissions reports required under Victoria’s Climate Change Act 2017. The report provides an overview of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2021 with a focus on the trends since 2005.

In the last three years Victoria’s population and economy have grown whilst emissions have declined. Victoria’s emissions have declined by 27.6 per cent between 1990 and 2021, while the economy has grown by 126 per cent and the population has increased by almost 50 per cent – just shy, at 49.5 per cent. Our per capita emissions in 2021, a measure of the state’s total net emissions divided by its population, were well below the national average. This smashed our initial reductions target of 15 per cent by 2020. We have cut our net emissions by almost a third since 2005, and this is a reduction of over 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent following its peak in the 2010–11 period. That is, for some perspective, the equivalent weight of about 16.6 million HiLuxes. That number was just extraordinary for me to even imagine.

This government is well on its way to delivering the zero-emissions future that Victorians want and voted for and a better tomorrow for the generations to come. As much as energy, environment and the climate have become a political hot-button issue at the moment, the perspective that we all need to remember is that this affects everybody, no matter how big or small, in Victoria and throughout our entire nation. This is not about doing what is popular or what is easy, but this is about continuing to do what is right by the people to deliver on climate action solutions, to drive down energy prices and emissions for Victorians and to safeguard our collective future and the future of generations to come. I will take a moment to acknowledge and praise the work of the Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Climate Action and Minister for the State Electricity Commission Lily D’Ambrosio in the other place for continuing to do just that – to make the hard choices and continue the hard work through times like the high-risk weather events of just a couple of weeks ago. That is what this government is about, getting on with the hard work, knuckling down and indeed delivering.

As outlined in this report. Victoria has firmly established a downward trajectory for emissions. The historical emissions data show a turning point in the last decade, when emissions fell steeply while the population and economy continued to grow. This reflects the Allan Labor government’s commitment and clear path to continue to cut emissions and to continue the advancement of renewable technologies and the efforts of all Victorians to take action on climate change in government and of course in the private sector. To continue this drive towards our set renewable target of 95 per cent this government invested more than $1 billion for the SEC to build energy projects that it needs to hit that target to drive energy prices down for the everyday consumer and businesses. The energy sector, while it is responsible for 51.8 per cent of Victoria’s total net emissions in 2021, is also leading the state’s emission reduction efforts.

Two-thirds of the reduction in Victoria’s total net emissions came from the energy sector. Between 2020 and 2021 we saw electricity emissions fall due to the growth in renewable energy generation, reducing the demand for gas power generation as we move forward on our gas substitution road map. Further to this, emissions have declined for all sectors except industrial processing and products since 2005, and the Victorian land sector has an increasing role in absorbing emissions that has only continued to grow, absorbing upwards of a quarter of Victoria’s emissions in 2021. The land use, land use change and forestry sector continue to play a role in the emissions reduction plan.

I could stand here all day and talk about statistics. But I have said this is only possible through climate action and the continued work of climate scientists, departments and committed ministers of the Allan Labor government, and I hope that we will continue to work hard and collaborate and come together for a better future that all Victorians can be proud of.