Victoria is continuing to lead the nation on climate action – smashing the state’s 2020 emission reduction targets on its path to net zero.
Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio yesterday released the Victorian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 2020, showing the state’s emissions fell to almost 30 per cent below 2005 levels in 2020 – almost doubling the target of a 15 to 20 per cent reduction.
Victoria’s emissions dropped almost six per cent between 2019 and 2020, with the largest drops found in the electricity sector, with a reduction of 2.2 million tonnes of emissions, and transport – reducing its emissions by 1.9 million tonnes.
In 2020, Victoria saw the third-lowest emissions of any state or territory across the nation, after Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.
Investment in renewable electricity generation has seen renewables jump from 22 to 25 per cent of Victoria’s electricity consumption between 2019 and 2020, with the state’s share of energy generation hitting a new high of 34 per cent renewables in the 2021-22 financial year.
The Victorian land sector’s role in absorbing emissions has also continued to grow, with the state’s forests and natural systems absorbing more than a quarter of Victoria’s emissions in 2020.
Ambrosio said the government’s ambitious transition to clean energy has seen Victoria become one of the first jurisdictions in the world to legislate net zero emissions, launch Australia’s first offshore wind targets and deliver the nation-leading Solar Homes program.
She said Victoria is paving the way to a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.
Following independent expert advice, the government announced targets to halve Victoria’s emissions by 2030 in the Climate Change Strategy – putting Victoria alongside international climate leaders like the European Union and United States.
Next year, the Government will set an interim 2035 emissions reduction target following advice of an independent expert panel announced as required by the Climate Change Act.