Australia’s fossil fuel exports: a major driver of global climate impact
The export of coal and gas from Australia causes more harm to the climate than any other country, with Russia being the only exception, reports Kazinform News Agency correspondent.
According to the study conducted by the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales, Australia is amongst the world’s largest producers and exporters of fossil fuels and by the year 2035 emissions from Australia’s fossil fuel exports could increase by 50%.
Kazakhstan was placed 11th in a list of countries whose environmental pollution is exacerbated by the export of energy resources. The United States and Indonesia were ranked 3rd and 4th respectively, due to their greenhouse gas emissions, while Saudi Arabia came in 5th, primarily because of its oil exports.
In 2022, Australia was the world’s seventh largest producer of fossil gas and the fifth largest producer of coal. However, as Australia produces fossil fuels far in excess of its domestic consumption, it consistently ranks amongst the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters. In 2022, it ranked second in the world for coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, a slight drop from the previous year when it was the world’s largest exporter of both. Qatar and the US are the other two significant exporters of LNG, while Indonesia is the other large exporter of coal.
The report states that the export of fossil fuels from Australia will remain roughly at the current level until at least 2035, as the country continues to approve new coal and gas export projects.
Emissions from Australia’s fossil fuel exports amounted to about 30 billion tons of CO2 over 63 years, starting from 1961, and are projected to increase by 50% by 2035. The country continues on this path despite being more vulnerable to the consequences of the climate crisis than most other countries.
“Yet here we have the Australian government intent on a deliberate strategy that will see its gas exports soar, exporting billions of tonnes of emissions, inconsistent with achieving net zero, and completely inconsistent with the science of this issue,” said Dr. Gillian Moon, the project lead of the Australian Human Rights Institute’s climate accountability project,
She said the country was continuing on this path despite being more vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis than most other countries. “We have domestic [emissions reduction] targets, but nothing on our exports. We export 91% of our coal and about three-quarters of gas, and we have no plan to get off this trade,” she said. “The Australian public deserves to know the truth about this and the consequences for us.”
