Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to go up, but the Government insists Australia can still meet its climate change targets.

Key points: Government says results support climate policies

Government says results support climate policies Paris deal requires Australia to reduce emissions to 26-28pc on 2005 levels by 2030

Paris deal requires Australia to reduce emissions to 26-28pc on 2005 levels by 2030 Australia "not on track, at all" to meet 2030 target, conservationists say

The latest report card from the Environment Department shows emissions rose by 0.8 per cent for the year until June.

The Government said the results support its climate policies.

"These figures show that Australia's emissions per capita and emissions per unit of GDP are now at their lowest level in 27 years," Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said.

"It demonstrates that we are able to meet our climate targets without a carbon tax which Bill Shorten and the Labor Party want to bring back."

But Professor Will Steffen from the Climate Council said the Government should not divide the results by the population.

"The atmosphere doesn't care a whit about per capita, it cares about how much CO2 is pumped into the atmosphere, that's what we've got to get down," he said.

Australia's climate change targets are not on a per-capita basis.

The most recent target, agreed to in Paris last year, requires Australia to reduce emissions to 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.

The quarterly results show between 1990 and 2016, emissions from electricity have had the largest growth, dumping 59.5 megatonnes into the atmosphere, an increase of 49.2 per cent.

"While many other countries now are reducing their emissions, ours still are going up, I think it's a dreadful outcome," Professor Steffen said.

The report card shows the fastest growing sector for the year until June was stationary energy that did not include electricity, which increased emissions by almost 4 per cent.

It includes emissions from direct combustion of fuels, predominantly in the manufacturing, mining, residential and commercial sectors.

Australia 'not on track' to meet 2030 target

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said it was disappointing the Government had waited until the week before Christmas to release the data, when a freedom of information request showed it had had it since September.

"It's pretty clear that the data is saying that you need to have strong policies in place for Australia to meet the 2030 target," ACF economist Matthew Rose said.

Despite the rise in emissions in the year to June, a second report on Australia's emissions projections shows the country is on track to meet its 2020 target.

But Mr Rose said the 2030 target agreed at last year's Paris talks was a different story.

"It basically says Australia is not on track, at all, to meet the 2030 target, there's no proper policies in place," he said.

"According to some estimates, if we continue as we are, we're going to be a billion tonnes above the Paris target in 2030, which at the moment is a little bit under two years of our emissions."

Mr Frydenberg was not available for an interview, but in a statement said, "the Government's policies, like the Emissions Reduction Fund are working to reduce Australia's emissions at low cost, without driving up the price of electricity like Labor's carbon tax did".

But the Climate Institute said the data proved that continuing the Emissions Reduction Fund would be very expensive.

"If you rely on the Emissions Reduction Fund to fill the billion tonne gap that the Government itself has identified for the 2030 target then that's going to cost $12-$55 billion, depending on what source you use for the base number," the institute's chief executive John Connor said.

Both the ACF and Climate Institute said next year's review of the Government's climate policies must include all options, including a price on carbon.

That has already been ruled out by the Prime Minister.

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