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USA: The former head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has joined Apple. Lisa Jackson will oversee the company’s environmental activities as it looks to clean up its image. The company has been targeted by NGOs for powering its data centre with fossil fuel energy and its pollution record at manufacturing bases. (GigaOM)
Apple is looking to clean up its image (Source: Flickr/Yutaka Tsutano)
Australia: The opposition Coalition in Australia has reportedly broken the law by requesting that the country’s green investment fund withhold lending. The Coalition says it will scrap the bank if it wins September’s election and requested the Clean Energy Finance Corporation not to make any loans in the meantime. The CEFC says it is mandated by law to make funds available from July onward. (The Guardian)
Kenya: The transmission grid in Kenya failed a day after a report said the world needed to try harder to improve access to sustainable electricity. The blackout lasted five hours. Businesses in the country cite power failure as a barrier to economic growth. Yesterday a report led by the IEA and the World Bank said the rate of electrification for the poor would need to double if 2030 UN targets were to be hit. (Reuters)
Ethiopia: A dispute over water in East Africa is brewing after Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile for a major hydropower project. Countries downstream including Egypt and Sudan have raised objections and claim a colonial era agreement guarantees them 90% of the Nile’s water. (BBC)
China: Construction work on the world’s tallest building will begin next month after a series of delays. The flat pack style building will shoot up in a matter of months. Its modular construction will save on materials and energy, according to Broad Sustainable Construction, the firm behind the plan. (Huffington Post)