---
title: "Lies, damned lies, and statistics: Fifth of fossil fuel facilities emitting above estimates"
description: A fifth of Australia’s major coal, gas, and oil facilities emit significantly more greenhouse gas than estimated in government approvals.
---
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The Canopy is a weekday morning email newsletter provided by the team at Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
# Lies, damned lies, and statistics: Fifth of fossil fuel facilities emitting above estimates
Thursday, 24 February 2022
A fifth of Australia’s major coal, gas, and oil facilities emit significantly more greenhouse gas than estimated in government approvals, in some cases more than 20 times what was expected.
New research by the UN has found climate change and land clearing are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of wildfires like the Black Summer fires, with former Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins echoing the direct impact of climate change.
And rising temperatures are pushing more freshwater from warm regions towards poles than models previously estimated as climate change intensifies the global water cycle, according to new analysis.
[A fifth of Australia’s fossil fuel facilities emit more greenhouse gas than originally estimated, report says](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/24/a-fifth-of-australias-fossil-fuel-facilities-emit-more-greenhouse-gas-than-originally-estimated-report-says)
A fifth of Australia’s major coal, gas and oil facilities emit significantly more greenhouse gas than originally estimated in government approval processes, a report by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has found.
[Longer fire seasons, warmer nights predicted as firefighters reach technological limits](https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/longer-fire-seasons-warmer-nights-predicted-as-firefighters-reach-technological-limits-20220222-p59yjl.html)
Longer, hotter and no relief at night. In the 50 years that former Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins has fought fires, the seasons have become much more intense with that intensity predicted to increase further, according to new research from the UN.
[Climate change is intensifying Earth’s water cycle at twice the predicted rate, research shows](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/24/climate-change-is-intensifying-earths-water-cycle-at-twice-the-predicted-rate-research-shows)
Rising global temperatures have shifted at least twice the amount of freshwater from warm regions towards the Earth’s poles than previously thought, according to new analysis.
[Energy grid ready for renewables revolution, says Cannon-Brookes](https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/energy-grid-ready-for-renewables-revolution-says-cannon-brookes-20220223-p59z05)
Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes says Australia’s energy system is ready for the faster exit of coal from the grid and will be able to cope with their $20 billion investment in new renewable projects by 2030.
[Mike Cannon-Brookes has invested a further $200 million into renewables, days after his bid to takeover energy giant AGL](https://www.businessinsider.com.au/mike-cannon-brookes-invests-200-million-renewable-energy-fund)
Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has committed $200 million through his private investment fund to renewables, just days after a failed bid for Australia's biggest climate polluter AGL.
[Coal](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/coal), [gas](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/gas), [energy policy](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/energy-policy), [climate change](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/climate-change), [Oil](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/oil)
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