Australia
Australia’s wind and solar increase has helped to drive down power sector emissions, but coal remains a major polluter
Australia relied on fossil fuels for 64% of its electricity in 2023, ranking as the G20’s top coal emitter on a per capita basis.
Despite Australia’s power sector emissions peaking in 2009, with its share of coal dropping from 73% to 46% and wind and solar growing from 3% to 29%, coal continues to dominate the electricity mix. Australian coal mines also emit massive amounts of the potent greenhouse gas methane.
Solar leads Australia’s clean electricity at 17% of the mix, placing the country in 5th position globally for the largest share of solar. However, although its 29% share of wind and solar is well above the global average (13%), it lags behind major European economies such as Germany (39%) and the UK (33%).
Australia aims for 82% renewable electricity by 2030, while the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions scenario sets out a global target of 60% renewable electricity by 2030.
Last updated: May 2024
Progress towards 1.5C power sector benchmarks
Australia
2000–2040
Data
