Emissions on the rise- despite shrinking economy

A climate change lobby group says Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise, even though the economy is shrinking.

The Climate Institute says carbon emissions increased by 800,000 tonnes in the December quarter.

In the same period, economic activity slid backwards by 0.5 per cent.

The Institute's Erwin Jackson says the figures show Australia cannot be complacent about the need to reduce carbon emissions.

"The equivalent of adding about 185,000 cars to the road and it just illustrates that even if the old, clunky Holden which we've got as an economy is in third gear, emissions still keep going," he said.

Mr Jackson says the economy is geared towards emitting greenhouse gases.

"Well, it's come largely from the increased use of diesel in the mining industry and also some switching from petrol to diesel use for domestic use," he said.

"But also, we've seen an increase in the amount of coal-fire generated electricity in the national electricity market, which has been driving up emissions."

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Fri 13th March 2009 - 10:13pm