The Western Australian Climate Policy commits the Government to develop Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategies (SERS) to guide cost-effective emissions reductions across key economic sectors.
In the future, climate change will drive increased average and maximum temperatures, time spent in drought and lead to more extreme weather events. In the south-west, the prolonged period of drying will continue, affecting primary industries, water security and natural ecosystems. These changes will potentially have broad impacts across our communities, industries and ecosystems. Warming trends and extreme events will affect our natural assets, such as Ningaloo Reef, and our global biodiversity hotspot in the south-west, which will have implications for how these regions are managed.
The Western Australian State Government has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 and WA is taking action in reducing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, both at an industry and government level. Reducing our emissions and contributing to the critical goals of the Paris Agreement will safeguard Western Australia’s environment, community, and long-term prosperity.
Shaping Western Australia’s low-carbon future [1]set out the high-level process and objectives for delivering emissions reductions.
Calculating emissions in the agricultural sector
Emissions can be calculated several ways. The state and national inventories are based on a set of rules outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [2](IPCC) and it is how we report Australia’s emissions to the world on a country basis.
The NIR method estimates state and national GHG emissions using a set of rules outlined by the IPCC. These NIR emissions are used to report our emissions to the world and compare global emissions on a country-by-country basis. NIR reports gather emissions data from five sectors across the economy:
- Energy
- Industrial Processes
- Agriculture
- Land Use, Land Use Change; Forestry (LULUCF)
- Waste
Collectively, the emissions from these sectors make up Australia’s state and national emissions reported through the NIR.
Life cycle analysis (LCA) and carbon accounts are used to gather more detailed information about the sources and intensity of emissions along agricultural supply chains. These methods are used to drill down to a farm, enterprise or product level to generate emissions profiles for agricultural businesses and their inputs and products. This more detailed emissions information can be used to guide production efficiencies and carbon mitigation strategies along supply chains.
Reporting of greenhouse gas emissions
DPIRD produces an annual report on agricultural emissions to monitor changes in industry emissions over time. Greenhouse gas accounting for Western Australian agriculture 2022 [3] uses Western Australian data and the National Inventory Report to analyse agricultural industries’ emissions. This report presents a new, much broader picture, capturing not only emissions from agricultural activities in Western Australia (WA), but also the emissions associated with the production of agricultural inputs and the sequestration that occurs on agriculturally managed lands.
[4]Carbon Neutral Grain Pilot
WA Agriculture Climate Resilience Fund partnered with CBH Group (CBH) and regenerative food and agriculture company, Wide Open Agriculture (WOA) to undertake the Carbon Neutral Grain Pilot project - researching Western Australian grain production Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. The project collected GHG emissions data over the 2020/2021 period from 36 cropping enterprises growing wheat, barley, canola, oats and lupins located in four port zones and the wheatbelt regions. The project covered 152,000 hectares and 417,000 tonnes of grain in total. More information can be found on the Carbon neutral grain pilot project [5].
Sectoral emissions reduction strategy for Western Australia
Over 2022 and 2023 the State Government developed a sectoral emissions reduction strategy to transition our economy to net zero emissions. The strategy was developed following consultation with business and industry, as well as research, environment and community organisations.
The report, Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategy (SERS)for Western Australia - Pathways and priority actions for the state’s transition to net zero emissions, was released in December 2023. Further SERS details can be found on the WA.gov.au site [6].
Agricultural emissions and SERS
DPIRD led the development of the agricultural component of the Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategies.
Reports that informed the agricultural component of SERS include:
Emissions Baseline Report for the Agriculture Sector in Western Australia
The 2020 Emissions Baseline Report for the Agriculture Sector in Western Australia [7] provided a baseline for the agriculture sector and estimates of each industry within the sector for the development of the SERS. This report is a part of an ongoing series now titled Greenhouse gas accounting for Western Australian agriculture [8].
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Options for Western Australian Agriculture
With input from producers, business, industry, banking, department researchers, research institutions and other key stakeholders a consultation document [9] was produced to inform the agricultural component of the Sectoral Emission Reduction Strategies.
The department invited feedback on the relevance, value and adoptability of actions for different agricultural industries to mitigate emissions through the Agricultural emissions reduction survey, which was released in March 2023 and accompanied the consultation document.
Feedback from the survey and outputs from prediction modelling informed the development of the agricultural component of SERS.
Contact
Gus Manatsa (PhD)
Emissions Lead
Climate Resilience Program
Email: gus.manatsa@dpird.wa.gov.au [10]
Mobile: +61 473 615 409