Australia’s Biggest Polluters. Now in High-Definition.
New public data is shedding light on where Australia’s emissions really come from. Thanks to the data platform OnlyFacts, we now have a far more detailed picture of which facilities are driving Australia’s emissions and which ones are taking action to reduce them (OnlyFacts, 2025).
The platform compiles data from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER), enabling anyone to compare performance across companies, sectors and individual sites. It tracks absolute emissions (t CO₂-e), changes year-on-year, and the use of offsets. The result is a transparency tool that makes it harder for heavy emitters to hide behind portfolio averages or corporate targets.
Among major facilities, coal power stations continue to dominate the national emissions landscape (OnlyFacts, 2025; CER, 2025). Top five emitting facilities (2024–25 reporting year) are seen below:
Graph source: OnlyFacts (2025), based on Clean Energy Regulator data.
What the numbers show
Iron ore and LNG operations remain among Australia’s highest emitters. Iron ore production contributed around 7.2 Mt CO₂-e last year, with Rio Tinto, Fortescue and CITIC leading the sector. Shell’s Prelude LNG facility continues to bank surplus carbon credits, while Rio Tinto’s Paraburdoo mine offset nearly 78 % of its reported emissions (OnlyFacts, 2025).
Coal-fired power remains the dominant source of stationary emissions. The top five facilities alone accounted for over 66 million tonnes of CO₂-e, equivalent to more than 12 % of Australia’s total reported emissions for 2024–25 (CER, 2025).
Some facilities are reducing output, notably Yallourn Power Station, where emissions fell almost 10 % as operations wind down ahead of its scheduled 2028 closure (EnergyAustralia, 2025).
Why transparency is crucial
Breaking emissions down at the facility level matters. Aggregate reporting allows large emitters to obscure high-emitting assets within corporate totals. Facility-level visibility forces accountability: investors, regulators and the public can now track where emissions cuts are genuine and where they rely on accounting manoeuvres or offset purchases (OnlyFacts, 2025).
This growing transparency also has implications for policy. The Safeguard Mechanism reforms, which set site-level baselines for the country’s 215 largest emitters, hinge on accurate and public data. Tools like OnlyFacts strengthen the system by allowing independent scrutiny of progress toward national reduction targets (Clean Energy Regulator, 2025).
References
Clean Energy Regulator (2025). National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Data 2024–25. Government of Australia. https://cer.gov.au/markets/reports-and-data/nger-reporting-data-and-registers
EnergyAustralia (2025). Yallourn Transition and Closure Plan. https://www.energyaustralia.com.au/resources/PDFs/flora-at-yallourn/EnergyAustralia%20Yallourn%20DMRP.pdf
OnlyFacts (2025). Major Facilities — Biggest Polluters in Australia. Updated 15 April 2025. https://onlyfacts.io/emissions/corporate/facility
