Fact sheet: Emissions reductions from Government policies and measures
Emissions reduction estimates for Government policies and measures are released annually as part of Australia’s official greenhouse gas emissions projections.
What is an emissions reduction measure?
For the purpose of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions projections an emissions reduction measure is:
an action taken and/or mandated by government – sometimes in conjunction with business or industry – to accelerate mitigation of climate change.'
The Department imposes the following criteria for a policy or program to be defined as an emissions reduction measure and an estimate for the measure to be provided in the projections:
1. It is an action taken or mandated by government.
2. Its primary purpose is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Reduced greenhouse gas emissions may be an ancillary benefit or a co-benefit of a policy, but unless the policy is primarily designed to reduce emissions it is not considered an emissions reduction measure.
For example improving public transport to reduce traffic congestion is likely to result in lower greenhouse gas emissions. However, if reducing emissions is not one of the primary purposes of the policy it is not considered to be an emissions reduction measure.
3. It is additional to what is already in place.
Only measures that lead to emissions reductions that would not have occurred in the absence of the measures are included. This is consistent with our international reporting obligations and avoids including emission reductions that would have occurred anyway.
For example, in some cases, a policy may help households or business to undertake emission reduction actions that they would still need to perform in the absence of the measure. Emission reductions are hence not caused by this policy and the policy would not be considered an emissions reduction measure.
In some cases, a policy may bring forward emissions reduction actions that would have occurred at a later date. The emissions reductions that result from the ‘bring forward’ are considered additional and hence meet the criteria for an emissions reduction measure.
4. It is measurable.
Abatement estimates are only provided if it is possible to quantify the emissions reductions from the measure. In some cases, this is not possible. For example, this may be because the policy is still under development or it is funding for research that may enable future emissions reductions which are unable to be estimated at this stage.
How are emissions reductions estimated?
Emissions reduction estimates are derived by either modelling, by external consultants or in-house calculations by the Department, or a combination of these approaches. They are based on reported emissions and/or knowledge of actions.
Australia’s estimates of emissions reductions are consistent with international monitoring, verification and reporting requirements, and are periodically submitted to the United Nations for review.
Where multiple programs contribute to the same emissions reductions, these reductions are allocated amongst the programs to avoid double counting.
Simplified methodology for estimating emissions reductions from a measure
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How are estimates of emissions reductions used?
There are different ways of reporting emissions reductions from measures that can be useful for different purposes.
Annual emissions reduction estimates
Annual emissions reduction estimates are provided in the emissions projections. Average annual emissions reductions over the Kyoto period and in 2019-20 are usually reported. These are used to determine the contribution of a measure to meeting our targets.
Cumulative emissions reduction estimates
Cumulative estimates are the total emissions reductions over the whole life of the measure, or over a specified period. These can be a useful indicator of the effectiveness of measure in reducing greenhouse gas emissions but should not be compared to annual targets.
View Australia’s emissions projections 2010
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Fact sheet: Australia's emissions projections 2010 (PDF 241 KB)