Michael Slezak reports in The Guardian (1.6.17) on new analysis which suggests that phasing out all land clearing by 2030 would save between 300m and 650m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
‘Ending land clearing in Australia by 2030 would cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by about as much as completely shifting the entire electricity sector to renewable energy for a year, a new report has found.
‘Queensland has been clearing about 300,000ha of land a year since the Newman government weakened restrictions on land clearing there and the Palaszczuk government failed to tighten them.
‘Combined with clearing in other states, analysis by the research firm RepuTex found that ceasing all land clearing would save between 300m and 650m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
‘That is a similar amount of abatement that would be achieved over a year if the entire electricity sector was moved to renewables. Electricity is currently responsible for more than 500m tonnes of CO2 emissions each year and is expected to rise to just under 600m tonnes by 2030, the report commissioned by the Wilderness Society found.’
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- Queensland accounts for up to 65 per cent of tree clearing: report »
- Australia the only developed nation on world list of deforestation hotspots »
- COP26: global deforestation deal will fail if countries like Australia don’t lift their game on land clearing »
- Deforestation can raise local temperatures by up to 4.5C – and heat untouched areas 6km away »
- Queensland moves to control land clearing: other states need to follow »