Australia’s emissions fell 0.4% in 2022 despite increases in transport and agriculture pollution

Some analysts have questioned how the land sector can be considered a carbon sink when land clearing in Queensland and NSW has gone up in the past decade. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Australia’s carbon emissions edged lower in 2022 with reductions from the electricity sector partly countered by increases in pollution from transport and agriculture.

The country’s emissions last year totalled 463.9m tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (Mt CO2-e), down 0.4% or 2m tonnes from the previous year. Preliminary estimates for the year to 31 March 2023 indicated emissions totalled 464Mt CO2-e, or 0.2% lower on a rolling 12-month tally, the national greenhouse gas inventory shows.