Australia’s greenhouse emissions are a national disgrace that are destroying the planet and costing households

In the 12 months to March, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions were higher than they were at the end of last year, and even higher than they were at the end of 2021. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

Every three months two all-encompassing surveys are released that track how Australia is going. One we know exactly when it will be released (next Wednesday at 11.30am), the other we know vaguely when but often it comes out on a Friday afternoon with little fanfare and no warning. One, on GDP, gets reported widely, the other, on greenhouse gas emissions, is mostly ignored.

Coming after the intergenerational report announced last week that rising temperatures driven by greenhouse gas emissions would likely cost the economy between $135bn and $423bn in today’s dollars, you might hope that the quarterly emissions data might get as much attention as GDP.