Emissions reductions in the state’s waste sector and investment in renewables has helped maintain Tasmania’s net negative emissions for a seventh consecutive year.
According to the State and Territory Greenhouse Gas Inventories 2020 report (released 9 June 2022), Tasmania’s 2020 net emissions were negative 3.73 megatonnes of carbon dioxide, 121 per cent lower than in 1990.
Minister for Climate Change, Roger Jaensch, said the nation-leading result meant the state was sequestering more greenhouse gas emissions that it was emitting.
“In 2020, Tasmania was the only state to achieve net-zero emissions, due to our sustainably managed forest estate, our long-term renewable energy investments along with ongoing emissions reductions in our waste sector,” he said.
According to the Tasmanian Government, the waste management sector generates about four per cent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
This encompasses disposal of solid waste to land, treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater, incineration of municipal and clinical waste, and biological treatment of solid waste.
As part of the state’s commitment to waste reduction, the first Business Resource Efficiency Program was completed in 2020, which helped 11 small and medium-sized businesses review and improve their resource use.
The businesses each underwent comprehensive waste audits and were assisted in workshopping action plans to address their waste management issues.
Applications are open for the program’s 2022 incarnation, which is set to launch next month.
Jaensch said modelling showed that as the state’s economy and population grew, coupled with the increasing risk of severe bushfires, more would need to be done to reduce emissions across all sectors.
“That’s why in response to the independent review of our climate change legislation, detailed emissions and economic modelling, and extensive consultation with industry, business and the community, we will legislate a target of net zero emissions, or lower, from 2030,” he said.
“This will be the most ambitious legislated target in the country and one of the most ambitious in the world.”
For more information, visit: stategrowth.tas.gov.au
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