Development bank opts for climate-change investment over 'white elephants’

The Asian Development Bank has signalled it will inject more cash into high-quality projects aimed at dealing with climate change and tourism and less on infrastructure "white elephants" as it battles pressure to counter the growing influence of China across the Pacific.

Asian Development Bank president Takehiko Nakao says not investing
 in white elephants is important for future infrastructure development.

Bank president Takehiko Nakao, on his first visit to Australia in three years, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that it wants to ensure "high-quality" infrastructure is put in place that does not leave recipient nations facing long-term and growing debts.

Read the story from The Age by Shane Wright - “Development bank opts for climate-change investment over 'white elephants’.”

Scott Morrison pledges $56m for Tasmanian interconnector in climate policy reboot

Scott Morrison has promised to help accelerate the construction of a new interconnector between Tasmania and the mainland, and has signalled the government will back the Snowy 2.0 expansion as part of the Coalition’s climate policy reboot.

Scott Morrison confirmed the Coalition would spend
$56m on a new 1,200MW interconnector for Tasmania. 

The prime minister confirmed on Monday the government would spend $56m in an effort to progress a new 1,200MW interconnector as part of Tasmania’s “battery of the nation” project and he also sent a strong hint he will back Malcolm Turnbull’s pet project, adding 2,000MW of new generation capacity at Snowy Hydro.

The Tasmanian project is a plan to double the state’s renewable energy capacity by developing pumped hydro energy storage, building windfarms and upgrading existing generation assets. Fourteen pumped hydro sites have been earmarked across the state with a combined potential generation capacity of up to 4,800 megawatts.

Read the story from The Guardian by Katharine Murphy - “Scott Morrison pledges $56m for Tasmanian interconnector in climate policy reboot.”

Chief Scientist Alan Finkel makes last ditch plea for clean energy target

Australia's Chief Scientist Alan Finkel has made a last-ditch plea to save the proposed clean energy target, even as the Turnbull government signalled it will reject the proposal by the end of the year.

Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel and South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill. 

South Australian premier Jay Weatherill responded on Monday to the apparent standstill, saying the states should "bypass the federal government and provide investment certainty for the electricity sector" by adopting their own target.

The Turnbull government asked Dr Finkel to review Australia's electricity market to set a policy path that would ensure reliability in the electricity system while also providing clear policy settings to drive investment in generation - something the business community has been demanding.

But in the face of strong opposition from sections of the Coalition backbench to the clean energy target, the Turnbull government delayed any decision on the target while adopting the other 49 recommendations in the Finkel review.

Read the story in today’s Melbourne Age by Cole Larimer and James Massola - “Chief Scientist Alan Finkel makes last ditch plea for clean energy target.”

Top Trump officials signal US could stay in Paris climate agreement

Senior Trump administration officials on Sunday signalled a further softening of America’s resolve to leave the Paris climate accord, amid signs that the issue will be discussed at the United Nations general assembly in New York this week.

A demonstration against Trump’s decision to pull
out of the landmark climate change deal,
which the president announced in June.

Secretary of state Rex Tillerson and national security adviser HR McMaster both indicated that the US is open to negotiations on staying in the landmark international agreement to limit mankind’s role in global warming.

Donald Trump announced the withdrawal from the deal in June, leaving the US with only Syria and Nicaragua for company outside the global agreement. A US withdrawal from a deal made under the Obama administration was a Trump campaign pledge. The rules of the pact do not, however, allow the US to physically pull out until 2020.

Read The Guardian story by Joanna Walters - “Top Trump officials signal US could stay in Paris climate agreement.”