The Danish Prime Minister has invited ACT Environment Minister Simon Corbell to a global green forum in Copenhagen in October, the second time in recent weeks that the minister's ambitious commitment to renewable energy has been recognised internationally.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Corbell is one of four Australians who will attend the 250-strong Global Green Growth Forum.
The invitation comes as a new report on Canberra's green energy shows just how far the city has to go to meet the target of 90 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The latest data, from 2011-12, showed that 17 per cent of the city's energy came from renewable sources, up from 14.2 per cent the previous year.
But Mr Corbell said the 2020 target was realistic and achievable.
It required about 490 megawatts of generation from renewables, and the government already had more than 300 megawatts in train through the three solar farms, the large-scale wind auction, and other projects. More wind and solar projects would be rolled out before 2020.
"When you look at the quantum of what we need to reach 90 per cent, you can see it's very modest in the scheme of the overall amount of energy potentially available," he said.
The Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission released its progress report on Canberra's renewables target and greenhouse gas emissions on Tuesday.
Greenhouse gas emissions were down slightly on the previous year, but still well above the 1990 levels, it showed.
The government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels.
In 1990, the city's emissions were 3200 kilotonnes; in 2011-12, the figure was 4350 kilotonnes, a slight reduction on the year before.
The commission said to meet the 40 per cent reduction target, greenhouse gas emissions would have to fall an average of about 305 tonnes a year.
The biggest contributors to greenhouse gases are electricity – responsible for just over 60 per cent of emissions – and fuel used in transport, responsible for 24 per cent of emissions. Both have increased by just over 30 per cent since 1990.
Emissions from wood used for fuel continue to decline; a stable 11.7 kilotonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, down from the 1990 levels of 17 kilotonnes.
Natural gas emissions have increased substantially, up more than 200 per cent since 1990. Emissions attributed to natural gas leakage are up 60 per cent.
Calculated per capita, greenhouse gas emissions peaked at 12.7 tonnes a head in 2005-06 and have been falling since.
Mr Corbell, who will also speak at the Nobel Laureates Symposium on Global Sustainability in Hong Kong on October 11, said the report showed the city was on the right track.
The report came before the big push for large-scale renewable projects, which began last year with the three solar farms. The first solar farm has just come on line.
He believed Canberra's action on green energy had come to the notice of Denmark through the country's ambassador in Canberra.
It was a great opportunity to highlight Canberra's progress, he said, and to get new ideas.
His message to the conference would be that cities and states did not need to get caught up in big national debates but could achieve results at a city level through relatively simple mechanisms.
