Media Release
8 September 2025
The road to net-zero carbon
EnergyQuest has released its September 2025 EnergyQuarterly Report – the road to net-zero carbon, where it takes a close look at progress along the road to net-zero carbon.
Under the Paris Agreement, Australia has committed in its current nationally determined contributions (NDC), to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030.
According to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), ‘Australia is 48% of the way through the Paris Agreement target period and has generated emissions equivalent to 48% of the emissions budget to 2030’.
This is a positive result to date, but it has relied largely on the benefits of carbon capture in the category of Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF). This may have reached most of its potential as the data shows that its benefits have plateaued over the last six years.
Rick Wilkinson, CEO EnergyQuest said that ‘EnergyQuest looked at long term trends of actual emissions back to 2008, and found that emissions have declined by only 6%.’
‘The electricity sector was the largest sector accounting for 29% of emissions in the year to March 2025, and has decreased actual emissions by a helpful 25% from 2008 to 2025.’
Rick Wilkinson noted that ‘After the electricity sector, other sectors including transport, fugitive emissions, stationary energy, industrial, agriculture and waste, which make up 71% of emissions, increased actual emissions by 5% over the last 17 years, from 2008 to 2025.’
These sectors each have challenges to achieve early and rapid decreases, such as:
- A complete overhaul of the transport fleet which takes about 8 to 10 years on historical cycles, even if the infrastructure can be installed in time
- Industrials constrained by limits on available and economic technology to convert to zero-carbon
- Fugitive emissions linked to coal mining activities, a key export
- Agriculture which includes methane emissions from cattle and sheep
In September, Australia is expected to update its next nationally determined contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, with the potential for updates on the 2030 target, and new targets for 2035.
Rick Wilkinson concluded ‘With the government considering the next round of GHG targets, it should be kept in mind that the easy gains have already been captured, and 71% of emissions have not yet demonstrated the necessary track record to meet existing targets, let alone more stringent ones.’
Rick Wilkinson
Chief Executive Officer
EnergyQuest
Information about the EnergyQuarterly is available by clicking here.