Australia is clearly not on track for meeting the interim target for greenhouse emissions by the year 2000, according to the IEAust's National Committee on Energy and Fuels. Achievements in the past 18 months, since the federal government released the National Greenhouse Response Strategy (NGRS) and the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (NSESD) in December 1992, have been "substantially less than originally anticipated by this stage", it says.

The committee last month presented a report on the progress made so far to the recently formed National Greenhouse Advisory Panel (NGAP).

In the report the committee expresses strong concern that the government is "tacitly" accepting a widespread perception that Australia is not going to meet its targets of greenhouse gas emission reductions by the year 2000. As a result, the committee suggests, the government is merely giving the impression of action while "in practice stalling the process". The main activity since December 1992 seems to have been little more than setting up a "complex web of committees and associated responsibilities".

The committee says its view is supported by the findings of the Australian National Audit Office and the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment, Recreation and the Arts.

Just one example of the Government's slowness to act is that it took nearly 18 months to set up the NGAP, when this action was marked as a priority in the NGRS, it says.

The committee urges the govemment to come clean. It proposes that "if the current target is not considered to be achievable, a firm and realistic target be set and urgent action be taken to meet that target". The present target is the stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions at the 1988 level by 2000 and a20% reduction of these emissions by 2005.

At the same time it points out that "undoubtedly" there are substantial no-regrets actions that can be taken to reduce unnecessary greenhouse emissions, particularly through improving energy efficiency.

"The government needs to show leadership by ensuring that policies are rapidly put in place to achieve these savings. Failure to do this will leave Australia in a strategically and morally weak position in international dealings on the greenhouse issue," the committee says.

It also reiterates the IEAust's position that engineers have "a responsibility to be active participants in achieving ecologically sustainable development".

The committee has members from across the energy industry, including Shell Australia, AGL, the Electricity Trust of South Australia, Pacific Power and Solahart. The committee is chaired by Jon Jutsen of Energetics Pty.Ltd. A full copy of the report can be obtained from Heather Stewart at the IEAust's National Office in Canberra, phone (06) 270 6555.

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