The Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) was formed in 1998 within the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...

as a stand-alone agency within the environment portfolio to provide a whole of government approach to greenhouse matters. It was the world's first government agency dedicated to cutting

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

, managed Australia's response to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, and provided government-sanctioned information to the public. Writer

Guy Pearse Guy Pearse is an Australian author and former Research Fellow at the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland. His first book titled ''High & Dry: John Howard, climate change and the selling of Australia's future'' was published ...

was employed by the agency as a consultant. David Evans was employed by the office from 1999 to 2005 to conduct

carbon accounting Greenhouse gas accounting or Carbon accounting is a framework of methods to measure and track how much greenhouse gas (GHG) an organization emits or takes actions to reduce. Corporations, cities and other groups use these techniques to help li ...

and to build

models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

History

The agency was responsible for administering the

Energy Star Energy Star (trademarked ''ENERGY STAR'') is a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that promotes energy efficiency. The program provides information on the energy consumption of pro ...

program in Australia and provided funds for a fuel cell bus trial in Perth. An auditing method was developed to assist local councils to improve the energy efficiency of their lighting, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. In 2001, the Australian Greenhouse Office introduced the Australian Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), which were revised in 2006 to a more stringent level. In 2004, it became part of the

Department of the Environment and Heritage The Department of the Environment and Heritage was an Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. ...

. Following the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

, the functions of AGO were split between the new Department of Climate Change and the

Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts was an Australian Government department that existed between December 2007 and September 2010. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocatio ...

. In March 2010, the remainder of the AGO functions- the (Renewable Energy Efficiency Division) was moved to DCC, creating the new Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

References

External links

Archive
Climate change in Australia Defunct Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia 1998 establishments in Australia 2010 disestablishments in Australia Funding bodies of Australia {{climate-change-stub

History

See also

References

External links