Labor pledges solar panels for schools in $1 billion program

Labor will pledge up to $1 billion to install solar panels at thousands of schools in an ambitious scheme to create "virtual power plants" that put energy back into the electricity grid.

Labor has pledged up to $1 billion in funding to install
 panels on schools, creating 'virtual power plants'.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will outline the plan on Tuesday with a claim it could "drive down electricity bills for households and businesses" as well as help schools cut their energy bills.

Read the story from The Age by David Crowe - “Labor pledges solar panels for schools in $1 billion program.”

Why can't the Top End pipe some of its abundant water south to assist drought-stricken states?

Every political cycle, a cavalcade of federal and state politicians dust off their Akubras, RMs and plaid shirts and head north, ready to pledge the nation's drought-ravaged farmers everything but actual rain.

Piping water from the north to southern Australia isn't a new idea.

The possibility of piping the water resources of northern Australia to quench thousands of thirsty southern agricultural paddocks has been floated by a litany of leaders keen to make use of the annual downpours of the tropical wet season.

But how plausible is the idea of pumping water from the Northern Territory down south to ease the dry soils of pastoral properties in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia? Or is it just a pipe dream?

Read the ABC News story by Matt Garrick - “Why can't the Top End pipe some of its abundant water south to assist drought-stricken states?”

G7 fossil fuel subsidies worth $100bn a year to industry, study find

The UK has been accused of trying to “fudge” how much it spends subsidising coal mining and fossil fuel use despite its pledge to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies by 2020. 

Britain has pledged to support the extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea .

The country ranked first on its commitment to end fossil fuel subsidies but last on transparency in a new study led by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) which ranks each G7 country on ending support for the production and use of oil, gas and coal ahead of a group meeting which starts in Canada on Friday.

The UK does not provide national reports on its fiscal support for fossil fuel production and consumption and the government has repeatedly denied providing fossil fuel subsidies. However, the report states the UK is providing subsidies in the form of tax breaks for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea and the decommissioning of oil.

Read the ClimateHome News story by Chloé Farand -  “G7 fossil fuel subsidies worth $100bn a year to industry, study finds.”

Iceland to be first UK supermarket to cut palm oil from own-brand products

Iceland is to become the first major UK supermarket to pledge to remove palm oil from all its own-brand foods, in a bid to halt the ongoing destruction of tropical rainforests in south-east Asia.

 Palm oil is found in more than half of all supermarket products.

The frozen food specialist will reveal on Tuesday that the controversial ingredient has already been taken out half of its own-label range, with the rest being reformulated by the end of 2018.

Palm oil – a cheap and mass-produced ingredient renowned for its versatility – is currently found in more than half of all supermarket products, from bread, pastry, biscuits, cereal and chocolate to soap and detergent.

But the complex supply chain means only a small percentage of the palm oil used to make these products comes from an officially approved sustainable source.

Read the story by Rebecca Smithers from The Guardian - “Iceland to be first UK supermarket to cut palm oil from own-brand products.”

'Wasteful stunt': Turnbull government accused of doing too little to save reef

The Turnbull government's pledge of an additional $60 million to help improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef has been dismissed by environmental groups and scientists as insufficient and a "wasteful publicity stunt”.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visits the Australian Institute
 of Marine Science (AIMS) to unveil the 'rescue plan' for the reef.

The government's pledge of the funds over 18 months includes $10.4 million for "an all-out assault" to reduce the impact of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish, the government said in a statement.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in The Sydney Morning Herald - “‘Wasteful stunt': Turnbull government accused of doing too little to save reef.” 

Australia's climate goals behind that of other industrialised nations

A

ustralia is behind other industrialised nations in having policies in place that can meet its promised 2030 target to cut greenhouse gases, a new assessment of its international climate change pledge has found.

The analysis by the global project, Climate Action Tracker, says with only the Abbott government's direct action scheme and the renewable energy target installed at the national level, Australia is on track to fall short of its 2030 pledge and will in fact see emissions rise by the end of the next decade.

Earlier this month the government committed Australia to cutting emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 as part of its pledge ahead of a major United Nations climate conference in Paris later this year.

Read Tom Arup’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Australia does not have plans in place to meet 2030 climate goal, assessment finds”.