Australia has reported a significant cut in emissions over the last year, driven by an increase in renewables and more EVs, ending a good week for the government’s net zero agenda that also featured lower prices and a massive boost in green energy investment.
The latest quarterly update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows emissions for the year to December 2025 were 2.1 per cent lower than the previous year – still not fast enough for the country to meet its own targets, but it says the trend is good.
Federal energy and climate minister Chris Bowen pointed to the lower coal and gas generation, tied in with record levels of wind, solar and battery storage, that helped cut electricity emissions by 3.8 per cent.
Transport emissions, helped by the growing uptake of EVs, even before the recent surge driven by the fossil fuel supply crisis, fell by 0.6 per cent, and fugitive emissions fell 3.7 per cent, credited to a reduction in coal mining and the capture of some emissions from fossil fuel activities.
Grid emissions are down by nearly one third since 2005, and the reduction in emissions from electricity represents the country’s most successful sectorial efforts to date.
