Fact checking Angus Taylor: does Australia have a climate change record to be proud of?

Angus Taylor speaks at the COP25 climate summit in Madrid. The energy minister says Australia has an enviable record on climate change – the Guardian fact checks his claims. Photograph: Reuters  Angus Taylor speaks at the COP25 climate summit in Madrid. Photograph: Reuters
31 December 2019

Australians should be proud of the country’s achievements on climate change, energy minister Angus Taylor has argued in a newspaper column that claims “quiet Australians” don’t accept the “shrill cries” of the government’s climate critics.

The column, published in The Australian, makes a series of claims about Australia’s emissions and how they compare to other countries, as well as highlighting exports such as LNG that are “dramatically reducing emissions” in other countries.

So is Australia really a paragon of climate virtue – cutting emissions at home while helping the world to cut emissions?

As is always the case when it comes to climate and energy policy, there is much to check and understand in Taylor’s article.

Prof Frank Jotzo, director of the Centre for Climate and Energy Policy at the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, told Guardian Australia: “I would characterise [Taylor’s article] as a selective use of statistics that make Australia’s emissions trajectory look good, when in reality it does not look good at all.”

Read the full article on The Guardian Australia including commentary by Prof Frank Jotzo

Updated:  28 January 2020/Responsible Officer:  College of Science/Page Contact:  https://iceds.anu.edu.au/contact