The Australian government has announced it has will pledge $1 billion dollars to protect the Great Barrier Reef, over the next ten years. The Reef Fund money will be used to invest in clean energy projects, especially those which reduce agriculture run-off and protect coral reefs.
The Fund will be managed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the government expects the money will also help bring economic benefits to the Queensland area by creating jobs and farm production. Currently it is estimated that the Great Barrier Reef supports as many as 70,000 jobs.
“Climate change is the greatest long-term threat to the Great Barrier Reef and to all coral reefs around the world,” Mr Turnbull said at a Queensland news conference on Monday. “Australians are passionate about the Great Barrier Reef and the Turnbull government is committed to protecting it for future generations.”
The government believes that one of the key ways to improve the resilience of the reef to climate change, bleaching events and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks is to focus on improving water quality. The money allocated to the reef fund will seek to do this by supporting projects that reduce run-off of pollutants, fertiliser and sediment.
“Such projects could include the wide-scale installation of more energy and water-efficient irrigation systems on agricultural land Turnbull said.” Other projects could support more energy efficient pesticide sprayers and fertiliser application systems.
The fund will also help coastal sewage treatment plants reduce ocean outfalls with more efficient pumps, biogas electricity generation and next generation waste-water treatment. The fund will also tackle climate change directly by supporting projects that could include solar panels for farms to reduce the use of diesel, more energy efficient equipment and vehicles and large-scale renewable energy projects such as solar farms in regional Queensland.
