ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY —
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS — GUIDELINES
547. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the Minister for Environment:
(1) Can the
minister confirm that on or about 13 March 2019, the Premier announced that the
Environmental Protection Authority will rescind guidelines that required new
projects producing more than 100 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year to pay to
offset those emissions?
(2) Will the
minister identify and table the study or research paper on which the EPA based
those guidelines, which are now rescinded?
(3) What is the annual total of Western
Australia's carbon dioxide emissions?
(4) By what
fraction of a degree would the temperature of the earth be reduced if the now
rescinded EPA guidelines were followed?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
(1) Yes.
(2) The
Environmental Protection Authority produced two greenhouse gas guidance
documents, which have since been rescinded—an environmental factor
guideline and technical guidance. I am advised by the EPA that these documents
were standalone guidance and were not based on any individual study or research
paper.
(3) The state and
territory greenhouse gas inventories prepared as part of the Australian
National Greenhouse Accounts provide the latest available published estimates
of annual greenhouse gas emissions for Australian states and territories, which
in 2016 was 82.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent for Western Australia.
(4) As climate
change is a result of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions globally since
industrialisation, it is not possible to attribute any particular temperature
rise to any particular project or policy outcome.