The national greenhouse accounts and land clearing: Do the numbers add up?

Queensland government estimates of land clearing in Queensland between 1990 and 2001 are approximately 50 per cent higher than the Federal Government’s estimates. If the Queensland government figures are correct, Australia’s total greenhouse emissions may be well above the Kyoto target. Without the decline in land clearing claimed by the Federal Government, total emissions would have increased by over 20 per cent between 1990 and 2004, well above Australia’s Kyoto target of an 8 per cent increase between 1990 and 2008/2012.