Somewhere in the world, the Covid-19 pandemic is still at its peak. It's July 2021. Schools, transport, work and fun are all disrupted by social distancing rules and lockdowns.
Where is this place that's still in the past? Australia's greenhouse gas inventory.
Let me explain.
Quarterly v Annual reports
Yes, last week's briefing looked at Australia's emissions to June this year.
But while we're grateful for small mercies, the quarterly emissions report that we covered was a macro summary of emissions at a national and sectoral level.
The annual greenhouse gas inventory is far more detailed, and includes state and territory breakdowns and sub-sector analyses.
Australia's most recent report of this kind covers the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.
Australia’s Obligations
Technically, Australia is fulfilling its reporting obligations under the Paris Agreement.
The guidelines say countries should submit their greenhouse gas inventories within two years of the reporting period.
Australia makes near-maximum use of that timeframe, partly because our July-June financial year obscures the fact that we're nearly a year behind other countries.
Japan, for example, also reports greenhouse gases by fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31. But when Japan says FY22, it means 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 — nine months ahead of Australia.
New Zealand's fiscal year is the same as ours, but the country uses calendar years for its greenhouse gas reports. Its 2024 inventory covers emissions to 31 December 2022.
Australia, Japan, and New Zealand all report their most recent data as ‘2022’. In reality, Australia has bought itself six to nine months.
Why It Matters
In last week's briefing, we found Australia's emissions are locked at the centre of a tug-of-war between Electricity, which is driving them down, and other sectors (especially Transport) which are dragging them up.
If we want to understand these rising Transport emissions better, we're looking at data that is nearly three years old.
The Covid-19 pandemic compounds the issue because it disrupted patterns.
See how the charts below, which use the latest data available, stop at FY 21-22. (These charts live at the OnlyFacts Road Transport dashboard.)
Transport emissions by state:
Transport emissions by type:
Road transport emissions by type:
A workaround is to track indicators and proxies, such as fuel sales, as ‘surrogate’ emissions data (which, to be fair, is what the Quarterly Reports do in part).
But it would be good to see our governments push harder to deliver data that is timely and relevant.
We can expect the emissions update for FY 22/23 in April 2025.