Australia says carbon emissions keep growing

By James Grubel

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's carbon emissions would continue to grow due to a heavy reliance on coal for electricity, a government report said on Monday, although the country would meet its Kyoto emissions targets by 2012.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said emissions would grow by 108 percent of 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012, meeting commitments under the Kyoto Protocol which sets binding Greenhouse gas targets for developed nations.

Wong said the figures were good for Australia, and showed a cut in expected emissions, although emissions would continue to grow to 120 percent of 1990 levels by the year 2020.

"We should not be celebrating an increase in Australian greenhouse pollution," said climate lobbyist John Connor, from the Australian Climate Institute.

The driest inhabited continent is also the world's largest coal exporter with an economy reliant on fossil fuel for transport and energy, with about 80 percent of electricity coming from coal-fired power stations.

Australia is responsible for about 1.2 percent of global emissions, but remains one of the highest polluters per capita.

The former conservative government negotiated a generous deal under the Kyoto Protocol, allowing for a 108 percent increase in emissions by 2012, but then refused to ratify the pact, saying the targets would unfairly hurt the economy.

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change last December in his first act after being sworn in to power, leaving the United States isolated as the only developed nation not to sign up to the pact.