Australian electricity companies not reducing emissions in line with Paris agreement goals, study finds

Nine out of 10 major Australian electricity companies are failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the goals of the landmark Paris climate agreement, a study has found.

Businesses not acting in accordance with the 2015 Paris agreement goal of limiting global heating to well below 2C since pre-industrial times included the generators and retailers AGL, EnergyAustralia and Origin, according to the study led by University of Queensland researchers.

The study, conducted in partnership with researchers from the University of Oxford and Princeton University, also examined the climate performance of 10 global cement companies. None were found to be reducing emissions in line with the Paris agreement goals.

Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study involved the researchers assessing what they believed was a reasonable carbon budget and decarbonisation pathway for individual electricity, cement or steel businesses. A carbon budget sets out how much a company can release while staying true to the Paris agreement goals.

Other big-emitting Australian electricity generators that were found to not be on track to achieve the Paris goals were Stanwell, CS Energy, Alinta, Delta, Millmerran and Callide.

Rekker said the researchers found many businesses had made commitments that did not reflect what their carbon budget should be to achieve the Paris goals, and had delayed action until several years after the global agreement was signed in 2015.

Some companies had set a baseline of 2020, effectively ignoring their emissions before that date. The study used a baseline of 2014 based on a modelling framework devised by the International Energy Agency.

The Paris agreement was brokered between nearly 200 countries, which agreed to act collectively to limit global heating to well below 2C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C. Individual companies are not bound by the agreement, though many have promised to make cuts consistent with it.

Dr Matthew Ives, who contributed to the study while a research associate at the University of Oxford and is now director of economic strategy with the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet, said the study was a landmark moment in bringing accountability to the Paris agreement goals.