According to a new report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Australia is pumping out more carbon emissions to achieve its economic growth than almost any other major economy.
At the same time almost a quarter of the country’s mammal species are threatened with extinction, according to the major new environmental audit.
The OECD report found Australia was second only to Estonia among 34 advanced nations in terms of greenhouse gas emission intensity per unit of GDP.
This measure ranks the ability of economies to grow in an environmentally efficient way, without escalating carbon emissions.
The OECD report says Australia’s high ranking is fuelled by its reliance on coal-fired energy.
Australia has the highest per capita emissions intensity of any OECD member, the report found, emitting nearly 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person in 2010.
According to the OECD: “… per capita energy use is still not falling fast enough to safeguard natural resources for a growing and ever more demanding population.
“The overall energy mix has barely changed in two decades, with an 80 per cent reliance on fossil fuels in the OECD bloc.”
According to a report published in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper Australia is also lagging behind other nations when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas emissions over the past two decades.
The OECD data shows that of the 34 nations, only Chile, Mexico, Korea and Turkey have increased their emissions more than Australia since 1990, while the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy all achieved cuts in that timeframe.
In terms of air pollution, Australia has a high concentration of sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide compared to other nations.
These substances are linked to acidification of soil and water, as well as potential respiratory illnesses in people.
The Guardian reports while the average OECD country had reduced sulphur dioxide emissions by about 60 per cent since 1990, Australia’s rose by 50 per cent.
Australia has the highest per capita emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the OECD, bar Iceland.
About 110 kilograms of sulphur dioxide is released into the atmosphere for every person in Australian each year.
Australia performs better on other environmental benchmarks, decreasing the amount of fish it catches by nearly 30 per cent since 1990 and also cutting the amount of urban waste generated since 2000 by more than the OECD average.
However the reports says 24 per cent of Australia’s mammal species are considered threatened, as well as one in 10 of its bird species.
At the same time the OECD says 11 per cent of Australia’s land is in a protected area, such as a national park; and 28 per cent of its marine areas are protected, the latter more than double the OECD average.
Globally, the OECD said there was “headway” in breaking the link between economic growth and environmental damage, with a 25 per cent average drop since 1990 in the amount of energy needed to create a unit of GDP.
“Yet per capita energy use is still not falling fast enough to safeguard natural resources for a growing and ever more demanding population,” the economic organisation warned.
“The overall energy mix has barely changed in two decades, with an 80 per cent reliance on fossil fuels in the OECD bloc.”
The OECD reports says its member countries derive just nine per cent of their energy from renewable sources.
At the same time according to the OECD nations have also failed to meet a promise to reduce biodiversity loss.
