The OECD's third environmental performance review has produced a negative assessment of the nation's climate policies, while noting some positive trends in the protection of its natural environment.
The country will fall short of its 2030 emissions target without a major effort to move to a low-carbon model, the report finds.
Australia "remains one of the most carbon-intensive OECD countries and one of the few where greenhouse gas emissions (excluding land use change and forestry) have risen in the past decade".
The report urges the government to develop a long-term strategy that integrates energy and climate policies. To this end it should consider pricing carbon emissions more effectively, the report says.
Coal, oil and gas make up 93% of the overall energy mix compared to an OECD average of 80%.
The share of renewables in electricity generation has risen to 16% but remains below the OECD average of 25%. Australia’s power sector – the country’s top emitting sector – is not subject to emission reduction constraints."
But it also notes that "Australia has significantly expanded both terrestrial and marine protected areas, surpassing international targets for 2020", and singles out the Indigenous ranger program as "a highly effective model for nature conservation."
In agreemeent with this, Macquarie University's Dr Emilie Ens and James Cook University's Dr Alana Grech wrote in The Conversation that it is "a rare good news story of a government initiative that delivers outstanding social, economic, cultural and environmental outcomes".