Road Transport Emissions

• Target: The 2030 target for national net emissions is –43% below 2005 levels. This means Australia is aiming to release net 349.6 Mt CO₂-e in 2030.
• Progress: In the year to June 2024, Australia released net 440.8 Mt CO₂-e.This was –28% lower than 2005.
• Needed: Australia is reducing its national net emissions by –1.3 Mt CO₂-e each year. To hit the 2030 target, it needs to reduce net emissions by –15.2 Mt CO₂-e per year.

Several factors affects transport emissions across Australia's states and territories, including population size, urban planning, geographic challenges, and transport policies.

Despite its lower population, WA has considerable transport emissions due to long travel distances and a strong dependence on road and air transport, especially in remote areas.

Transport is Australia's second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, after electricity.

'Road' is the biggest category in transport emissions, by far. When we drill down into 'road' emissions, cars dominate. Just 2% of Australia's 21 million registered vehicles are electric.

That figure is growing. But something else has changed. There are more diesel vehicles on the roads too.