Australia’s State of the Environment — Decarbonisation ++

TL:DR

1. Australia’s SOE report?was dire
2. Land Use change is a significant driver in GHG emissions due to an increase in land use intensity
3. But land management is an area where we can accelerate carbon removal whilst enhancing biodiversity, soil health and other attributes
4. Environmental markets are a key driver in this effort

Australia’s State of the Environment (SoE) report?is an independent and evidence-based assessment of the state of Australia’s environment. It is produced every five years as mandated by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The report is authored by leading environmental scientists and experts and the recent report is the first time an Indigenous co-authorship model was used. This ensures Indigenous knowledge is incorporated to inform better environmental decision-making by leveraging traditional knowledge in caring for Country.

The report is important because it highlights what we are doing well and what we are not. It shows that

1. The Australian climate has warmed by a mean of 1.4 °C on land and 1.1 °C in the oceans since consistent national records began
2. Rainfall has decreased in south-eastern and south-western Australia (where the majority of people live) and increased in north-western Australia (where they do not)
3. From 2015 to 2019, 600,000 hectares of primary and secondary forest were cleared
4. Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent and continues to have one of the highest rates of species decline

The report also shows that Australia is managing to decarbonise its electricity supply and agriculture (good) but is seeing a rapid increase in emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (bad). Why is this?

Land-use change in Australia continues to intensify resulting in a decline of natural capital in the land environment. The health of soil, biodiversity, water and ecosystems are all under threat as land is cleared for alternative use cases. The largest environmental impact comes from the conversion of native grazing to more?intense forms of agriculture.

Since 2015, Australia’s land use has turned into a net sink, absorbing over 25GT’s of CO2e. The trend since 1990 (seen below) is largely due to reductions in forest land conversions and regrowth on some previously cleared lands.

There are 2 main drivers for this trend. The first is the increase in area under protection which has almost tripled since 1997. Of importance is the relationship with indigenous communities to utilise their knowledge of managing country. Land rights and native title have enabled recognition of some Indigenous rights across 57% of Australia’s lands, with the extent of IPAs having grown to make up nearly half (43.5%) of Australia’s NRS.

The second driver is the restoration economy underpinned by the carbon market alongside other smaller markets such as biodiversity. These markets present opportunities to enhance native vegetation management and environmental stewardship by developing regenerative projects that deliver carbon credits through biodiverse plantings. Vegetation has been the largest source of credits according to the?Clean Energy Regulator?who has committed $2.3 billion to date through Commonwealth government contracts to purchase 192 million ACCUs. This is an important value driver for alternative methods of managing our natural capital.

We need to continue to address the poor state of the environment. Australia’s SOE report is just a small snapshot of the dire health of global ecosystems and the environment. Environmental markets, such as carbon, are an important avenue to address these issues but what we need to deliver is decarbonisation ++ including carbon avoidance, carbon removal, biodiversity protection, soil health, clean water.