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Australia and Türkiye are pushing for a deal on electrification, as the Cop-31 climate summit enters its second week of negotiations.
The proposal has drawn criticism from those who want countries to clearly map their transition away from fossil fuels, as the deal does not require increased electricity to come from renewable sources.
But summit host, Türkiye, says expanding global electrification will lead to faster emissions cuts, by accelerating the shift away from fossil fuel-powered cars, boilers, furnaces and other equipment.
Australia’s Energy Minister Chris Bowen, who is presiding over the negotiations in Antalya, says he expects a first draft of a deal text early next week.
"What we are seeking to do is to capture some of that ambition that's around electrification. There's a lot of momentum and to reflect that in a way that reflects consensus. Now there's more work to do there. I am, you know, very keen to see those conversations continue, but they will continue over the course."
Thousands of demonstrators have marched through Antalya where the COP31 climate conference is taking place, demanding urgent action on fossil fuels.
It comes after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged countries to agree to immediate and drastic cuts in fossil fuel emissions during an address at the summit on Saturday.
Protesters say like Mr Guterres, they want countries to take the urgency of the threat seriously.
“I’m here at the protest today to echo the call that Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has made that big polluters must pay for all the climate damage that they've done.”
Last month, a U-N report found the world is already on course to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold, a limit scientists say could prevent the worst effects of climate change.
Victorian Labor and Liberal parties have officially launched their campaigns today, two weeks out from the state election and days before early voting opens on Wednesday.
Labor has been in government for 12 years, but polls indicate a split in votes across parties and shift from the incumbent government, including rising popularity for the Liberal party and One Nation in polling.
Incumbent Premier Ben Carroll, who took over from an ousted Jacinta Allan earlier this year, addressed Labor's campaign launch today.
"Friends, every election is a choice, but Victorians have never faced a choice like this. A choice between Labor's plan to invest in health and vital services that help working people, and the Liberal One Nation plan to cut services and hurt working people."
In the lead-up to the Victorian state elections, the major parties are pitching their plans to combat youth crime, the escalation of which has been a key issue for the state in recent years.
Victoria's Opposition leader Jess Wilson says if a Liberal coalition was elected, young criminal offenders would be forced to do farm work, clean, do their own laundry, attend education courses, and follow a gruelling daily routine under a new bootcamp program.
The plan is not new: the state's liberal party pitched youth offender bootcamps back in 2018 and Queensland and Tasmania have already adopted the practice of sending children to remote bootcamp style programs.
The proposal is part of a broader crime crackdown proposed by the party.
Tens of thousands of patients across New South Wales could receive medical treatment at home instead of attending overcrowded hospitals, under a major expansion of the state’s healthcare services.
The state government is investing $260 million in its Health at Home program, which aims to treat 76,000 patients annually.
Premier Chris Minns says the initiative could significantly increase the state’s healthcare capacity.
“Now to put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of a 700-bed major hospital in metropolitan Sydney. That’s the scale of the change that we’re beginning to bring about.”
The voluntary program will allow eligible patients to receive care from doctors and nurses through remote consultations and monitoring.
To sport now, and in the AFLW, Carlton coach Mathew Buck has described Darcy Vescio's match-winning goal in Saturday's five-point win over Hawthorn as 'pure poetry'.
Hawthorn reeled off the first three goals of Saturday night's Ikon Park semi-final.
But Carlton fought back, with AFLW icon Vescio slotting the winner, to deliver a 6.7 to 6.2 win.
The win means Carlton have secured their place in the final four clash with Melbourne next Saturday.
