Western Australia's Environmental Watchdog Says Withdrawn Guidelines For Carbon Reduction

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of the state of Western Australia on Thursday said that it had decided to withdraw recommendations on greenhouse gas emissions as local businesses has raised concern s over the implementation of the guidelines

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2019) The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of the state of Western Australia on Thursday said that it had decided to withdraw recommendations on greenhouse gas emissions as local businesses has raised concern s over the implementation of the guidelines.

The state of Western Australia is the country's biggest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), hosting five LNG plants, according to media reports.

"The EPA is withdrawing the revised guidelines from application, until those consultations with industry and stakeholders are more fully complete ... As a result, the EPA will be undertaking further consultation with industry and stakeholders to ensure these guidelines can be practically implemented and that they are fully complementary to Commonwealth regulation," the watchdog said in a statement.

Despite the withdrawal of guidelines, EPA remains committed to reduce the state's greenhouse emissions, according to the statement.

In December, the Australian Environment and Energy Department said in a report that the country was expected to miss the greenhouse gas emission targets set out by the Paris Agreement by at least 19 percent, with the country's emission levels projected to go up 4 percent between 2020 and 2030 instead of dropping.

The data has corroborated the United Nations' recent report, which revealed that Australia had failed to make any improvements to the country's climate policy since 2017 and was expected to see its emission levels in 2030 significantly exceed the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) envisaged by the Paris Agreement.

The Paris climate deal, created within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, went into force on November 4, 2016. It has been ratified by 185 of the 197 parties to the accord. The deal aims at keeping the increase in average global temperature at below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.