Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Clinton Climate Initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation.
Under the MOU Australia and the Clinton Climate Initiative will work together to help tackle climate change.
The MOU will see Australia and the William J. Clinton Foundation collaborate to;
* Deploy carbon capture and storage technology to large scale projects.
* Examine policies to encourage large scale solar power generation in Australia.
* Design collaborative policies in conjunction with large cities and other organisations on improving energy efficiency.
The William J Clinton Foundation will work with the Australian Government through Australia's Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Initiative announced by Prime Minister Rudd last week.
This collaboration will help accelerate the development of CCS technology and pave the way for its commercial deployment by the end of the next decade.
The Clinton Climate Initiative will draw on its experience in international collaboration and work with Australia and other nations to help achieve a balanced portfolio of demonstration projects.
The Clinton Climate Initiative is already working with a number of Australian states to develop solar power facilities. The MOU will enable the Australian Government to explore opportunities to draw on the Clinton Climate Initiative expertise in considering policies to encourage large scale solar power generation in Australia.
The Australian Government is developing a national energy efficiency strategy as one of the keys to successfully addressing climate change.
The Government will draw on the experience the Clinton Climate Initiative has in working with large cities and other organizations on improving energy efficiency in the drafting of this strategy.
Australia and the Clinton Climate Initiative will also explore opportunities for collaboration in the energy efficiency area across government, business and the community.