Western Australia’s Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategies (SERS) Roadmap

On Thursday, 2 December 2021 Western Australia Minister for Climate Action Amber-Jade Sanderson launched the State Government’s roadmap to develop sectoral emissions reduction strategies, ‘Shaping Western Australia’s low‑carbon future’. The development of these strategies is a core election commitment of the McGowan Government’s climate policy to transition the WA economy to net zero emissions by 2050.

The launch recognises the need for a sectoral approach to emissions reduction and for State Government partnership with business, industry, research institutions and the community. The WA Government recognises that the transition to net zero emissions by 2050 will not require the same pace of decarbonisation in all sectors, as some parts of the economy may be constrained by technical limitations, existing infrastructure, or low stock turnover.

Stakeholder consultation on the framework will begin in early 2022, with the involvement of seven cabinet ministers across portfolios including Energy, State Development, Agriculture and Food, Transport, Water and Lands.

The State Government is adopting nine principles to guide the development of the SERS:

1. Government leadership.
2. Business certainty.
3. A ‘bottom-up’ approach.
4. Economic resilience.
5. Job creation and regional development.
6. Energy security and reliability.
7. Collaborative action.
8. Fairness.
9. Alignment with the mitigation hierarchy.

Key Pillars of Decarbonisation

The State Government’s emissions reduction framework is to be underpinned by five ‘key pillars of decarbonisation’:

• Energy efficiency
• Hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels
• Low emissions electricity
• Non energy emissions
• Electrification and fuel switching

The roadmap divides the development of SERS into four stages:

1. SERS Launch (December 2021).
2. Analysis (to be finalised mid-2022).
3. Modelling (to be finalised end of 2022).
4. Develop sectoral strategies (beginning late-2022, finalised end 2023).

Emissions by Sector

The graph provided in Shaping Western Australia’s low‑carbon future shows that the two largest contributors to Western Australia’s emissions are direct combustion from mining, energy, and manufacturing (33 per cent of total emissions), and electricity generation (27 per cent of total emissions).

Agricultural emissions have declined 14 per cent from 2005 levels. It is also recognised that land use has transitioned to a ‘net sink’, reducing the state’s emissions by 8.6 MtCO2‑e in 2019.

The Government has specifically noted that “Transitioning [the Western Australian] economy to net zero emissions by 2050 does not require all sectors to decarbonise at the same pace. Some sectors will be able to readily reduce emissions, while others may face constraints in the short term from technical limitations, existing infrastructure or slow stock turnover.”

The roadmap acknowledges that emissions reduction in industry, transport and buildings will be a challenge that requires significant effort to build new infrastructure.

Finalisation of SERS is expected at the end of 2023.

Further information regarding timing and stakeholder consultation is to be released in early 2022.

You can read the West Australian Government’s launch of the Sectoral Emissions Reduction Strategies (SERS) here.

Further Information

For more information, please contact your Hawker Britton consultant Simon Banks, Managing Director on +61 419 638 587.