Climate change survey results
We surveyed all environment protection licence holders to better understand their emissions, risks, climate change actions and where support or regulatory interventions may be needed.
High level results
- about 40% of licensees do not have a dedicated person(s) responsible for managing climate change issues
- about 50% have quantified their greenhouse gas emissions
- about 25% have an emissions reduction plan that applies to their facility
- less than 40% have carried out a climate change risk assessment
- less than 20% have identified measures to adapt to climate change
- less than 10% have an adaptation plan.
This shows there is significant scope for us to work with licensees to improve their management of climate change issues.
An example of some survey results for all sectors are shown in the figures below.
Climate hazards
Impact of climate hazards faced by our licensees over the past 5 years
Emission reduction opportunities
Licensees that have implemented, planned or identified emission reduction opportunities in an emissions reduction plan
Support needed
Licensees that have asked for support to reduce emissions and climate risks
- more detailed guidance directly related to their industry sector (~1,000 licensees)
- case studies of leading best practice for sector (~700 licensees)
- additional support to identify emissions reduction measures for their sector (~700 licensees)
This confirms our intention to develop industry-sector specific regulatory approaches, guidance and support.
Explore the data
To explore the data in more detail, including by industry sub-sector, visit the Power BI dashboard.
The survey was broken down into 8 parts:
- Submitter details
- Operating details about the facility
- Climate hazards
- Local climate hazards, management challenges and commitments
- Climate risk management
- Identification and reporting of physical climate risks
- Adaptation measures to manage climate risks
- Assessment of greenhouse gas emissions
- Existing obligations to report emissions
- How emissions are quantified
- Identification of major emissions sources
- Fuel usage, electricity usage, if emissions are not quantified
- Management of greenhouse gas emissions
- Existing obligations and actions taken to manage emissions
- Emissions reduction plans and targets
- Implementation of emission reduction opportunities
- Additional information (optional)
- Other information relevant to management of climate risks and/or emissions
- Sign off and submission
Licensees were asked a series of conditional questions about how they assess and managed climate hazards, climate risks, and greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information of the specific questions licensees were asked, please read through the list of indicative questions (PDF 229KB).
The industrial sectors used for analysis conform with the Australian and New Zealand Industrial Classification. The industrial sectors are:
| ANZSIC1 | Industrial Sector |
Industrial sub-sectors |
Scheduled / Fee-based activities2 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Agriculture |
Agriculture |
Agricultural Processing (Post farm-gate) (Approx 110 licensees) |
Agricultural processing
Irrigated agriculture3 |
|
Livestock intensive activities (animal housing) (Approx 150 licensees) |
Livestock intensive
|
||
|
Livestock Processing (Post farm-gate) (Approx 60 licensees) |
Livestock processing activities
Aquaculture and mariculture |
||
|
Mining |
Mining |
Extractive Activities (not minerals within the meaning of the Mining Act 1992, and not petroleum) (Approx 300 licensees) |
Extractive activities
Crushing, grinding or separating |
|
Coal Mining and Petroleum (Approx 70 licensees) |
Mining for coal Coal works Petroleum exploration, assessment and production |
||
|
Minerals Mining (Approx 60 licensees)
|
Mining for minerals Mineral processing
|
||
|
Manufacturing |
Manufacturing |
High Emitting Manufacturing (Approx 180 licensees) |
Cement or lime works
Ceramic works
Chemical production (all activities listed in Schedule 1 of the POEO Act) Coke production Concrete works Metallurgical activities (all activities listed in Schedule 1 of the POEO Act) Paper or pulp production Petroleum Products and fuel production |
|
Manufacturing (Approx 60 licensees) |
Brewing and distilling Cement or lime works
Printing, packaging and communications waste generation Sterilisation activities Wood or timber milling or processing Wood preservation |
||
|
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste services |
Electricity Generation |
Electricity generation from diesel, coal and gas, waste (Approx 30 licensees) |
Electricity generation from fossil fuels
Energy recovery from general and hazardous waste |
|
Energy generation (renewables) (Approx 30 licensees) |
Electricity generation - renewables
|
||
| Waste |
Waste processing and resource recovery Approx (230 licensees) |
Composting Container reconditioning Contaminated soil treatment Resource Recovery
Waste processing (non-thermal treatment)
Thermal treatment of waste
|
|
|
Landfills (Approx 130 licensees) |
Waste disposal (application to land) Solid waste landfilling
|
||
|
Wastewater treatment (Approx 270 licensees) |
Sewage treatment Contaminated groundwater treatment
|
||
|
Transport, postal and warehousing |
Transport |
Transport infrastructure (Approx 40 licensees) |
Road construction Railway activities
|
|
Transport operations (Approx 20 licensees) |
Railway operations
Road tunnel emissions
|
||
|
Transport Hubs (Approx 70 licensees) |
Transport hubs
|
||
| Storage |
Chemical Storage (Approx 40 licensees) |
Chemical Storage
|
|
|
Waste Storage (Approx 110 licensees) |
Waste Storage
|
Notes:
1Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification
2 As per scheduled activities listed in Schedule 1 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997
3 Irrigated agriculture is defined as the irrigation activity of an irrigation corporation within the meaning of the Water Management Act 2000
Organisations that manage some climate change matters at the organisation-level could opt to answer organisational-level questions on the survey once only, for one of their licensed facilities. In the first survey, they were asked both facility level and organisational level questions. For subsequent surveys, the relevant organisational-level questions were not asked.
In the survey analysis, the organisation-level survey responses for subsequent surveys were populated by the first survey response.
Some facilities that are licensed are not operational for various reasons. However, there could still be climate risks and emissions associated with these non-operational facilities. Survey responses for these facilities have been included in the survey analysis.
Information for the agriculture sector
We are committed to supporting our agricultural licensees to build resilience to climate change risks and to reduce their emissions.
EPA licenses a small portion of the NSW agricultural sector. See more information specific to the agriculture sector.
Our Agriculture Advisory Group, which includes agricultural experts and representatives, will advise on how we can support our licensees to decarbonise and build its resilience to climate change. We also intend to leverage learnings from the survey to assist and influence the rest of the sector more broadly.
Survey results are presented on the dashboard. Results for the agriculture sector are presented in the following 3 sub-sectors:
1. Agriculture – Agricultural processing (about 110 licences)
- General ag processing
- Dairy processing
- Grape processing
- Irrigated agriculture
2. Agriculture – Livestock intensive activities (about 150 licences)
- Cattle, sheep or horse accommodation
- Dairy animal accommodation
- Pig accommodation
- Animal accommodation
- Bird accommodation
3. Agriculture – Livestock processing (about 60 licences)
- Rendering or fat extraction
- Slaughtering or processing of animals
- Tanneries or fellmongeries
- General animal products production
- Greasy wool or fleece processing
- Aquaculture and mariculture
The activities in the sub-sectors are scheduled activities as defined in Schedule 1 of the Protection of Environment Operations Act 1997. Specifically, animal accommodation means the accommodation of animals for the purposes of sale, auction or exchange or for transportation by road, rail or ship. Animal accommodation is more commonly referred to as animal housing in the agricultural sector.
