There’s a bizarre disconnection between the climate change debate in Australia and reality. While major party politicians, business and union leaders and mainstream media commentators debate such issues as how much polluters should be shielded from a carbon price, how much money should be given to households and the dangers of getting ahead of the rest of the world, Australia’s emissions continue to grow.

Despite the impact of the GFC, which saw our emissions fall slightly for five consecutive quarters, our output of CO2 has been rising again since last year, despite some handy one-off factors like higher rainfall and cooler temperatures keeping emissions growth down.

Australia is already producing more emissions than, under a target agreed by both sides of politics, we are aiming to in 2020. And it’s hardly a serious target. Australia currently produces more carbon emissions per person than nearly any other country – nearly 25 tonnes per person in 2010. Indeed, only the oil-producing Gulf states have higher levels of emissions per person. Australia’s bipartisan 5% target would, even factoring in high population growth, leave intact our lead as one the world’s biggest per-person emitters. As it turns out, the anti climate change action talking points used by the relevant ranks of politics, business and the media are right — our efforts to address climate change will lead the world. Just not in the way they think.

So, while our leaders endlessly argue the toss in a fantasy land of unilateral policies, economic carnage and costless “direct action”, in the real world our emissions continue to rise, rather like global temperatures continue to rise, oblivious to efforts to rationalise them away.