Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Australia

This report by the World Resources Institute evaluates Australia's policy framework for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, focusing on the Clean Energy Future package and its ability to meet international commitments by 2020.

• Australia's current climate policy framework, if fully implemented, allows the country to meet its international commitments to reduce emissions by 5-25 percent from 2000 levels by 2020.
• The Clean Energy Future package, implemented by the federal government, consists of a three-year fixed carbon price transitioning to a cap-and-trade scheme linked to the European Union (EU) emissions trading scheme and Kyoto mechanisms. The government intended to move the start of the cap-and-trade scheme to July 2014, with annual caps recommended by the independent Climate Change Authority (CCA).
• Key federal policies supporting emissions reduction include the Large-Scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET), aiming for 41,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy generation by 2020; the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), with $A10 billion for low-emission technology deployment; and the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI).
• There are significant risks to Australia's targets, including policy uncertainty caused by the Coalition government's promise to rescind the carbon-pricing mechanism and dismantle the CCA and CEFC. Additionally, low prices in the EU ETS and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) may lead Australian emitters to buy international permits rather than reducing domestic emissions, potentially increasing exposure to international price volatility.
• Under current policies and prices, the Australian government projects that domestic emissions will increase, meaning the country would rely on purchasing international abatement to meet its targets.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Australia. https://www.wri.org/research/greenhouse-gas-mitigation-australia

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Australia. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/greenhouse-gas-mitigation-australia.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Australia |url=https://www.wri.org/research/greenhouse-gas-mitigation-australia |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendgreenhouse, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Australia}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/greenhouse-gas-mitigation-australia}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }