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4 | 13th - 19th June 2014 | utILItY WeeK National media £50m Green Deal Fund goes live the Department of energy and Climate Change's Green Deal home Improvement Fund went live this week. £50 million total value of the package £7,600 Maximum amount offered to homeowners to make their property more energy efficient £1,000 Maximum amount available to customers who install two measures from an approved list, including cavity wall insulation and replacement storage heaters £6,000 Can be claimed back for solid wall insulation Climate unity under pressure The Australian and Canadian prime ministers have suggested that eco- nomic growth is more important than tackling climate change, play- ing down the prospects of strong co-ordinated global action. Tony Abbott and Stephen Harper indicated during a joint media conference in Ottawa that they felt no additional pressure to address climate change as a result of US president Barack Obama's new package to reduce emissions. The Guardian Enel directs capital away from Europe The new chief executive of Enel plans to divert capital to emerg- ing economies as a way for the company to grow while European energy markets are still overshadowed by weak demand and policy uncertainty. Francesco Starace, who was appointed to lead Enel last month, wants to return the company to growth while staying within the financial framework he inher- ited, which is intended to cut the group's debts. Financial Times Use poetry to fight climate change William Wordsworth found inspira- tion for his poetry in his environ- ment, not least the "golden daf- fodils" he saw "beside the lake". Then there was Winnie the Pooh who pondered a little more simply: "The more it snows (tiddely-pom)/ The more it goes (tiddely-pom)/ The more it goes on snowing." Now scientists are being told to use art and poetry to win public support in the battle to curb climate change. The Independent story by NUMbErs O nshore windfarm consent rates have plummeted in the wake of interven- tions by communities secretary Eric Pickles (pictured), figures obtained by Utility Week show. Councils refused more than two-thirds of onshore windfarm plans in mainland Britain in the first five months of 2014, in a reversal of typical approval rates. Local planning authori- ties approved 33 per cent of applications in England, 30 per cent in Scotland and 29 per cent in Wales from January to May, according to Renewable UK figures. Between 2010 and 2013, approval rates were 60 to 70 per cent. Jennifer Webber, head of external affairs at Renewable UK, attributed the slump to the messages coming from Pickles' department. "Around each application there will be people who oppose it," she said, "but I cannot see a good reason for that to have gone up substan- tially in the periods we are talking about." Local authorities' tougher stance on windfarm plans fol- lows guidance published by the Department for Communities and Local Government last July. Since October, Pickles has personally intervened to make sure councils are heeding that guidance, calling in 39 plans. Communities minister Kris Hopkins said: "Inappropriately sited wind turbines can be a blot on the landscape." Meanwhile, two solar farms with a capacity of 35MW in Suf- folk have been refused planning permission on appeal, in a fur- ther blow to a sector grappling with a subsidy review. MD See special report, p12 Seven days... Onshore wind planning approval rates slump 50 Only around 50 ministers of a possible 196 turned up to the high-level climate meetings in Bonn on 5 and 6 June, sparking criticism from the uK Youth Climate Coalition of ed Davey's absence "The government has been a cheerleader for the fracking lobby, but what people want is reassurance" Blackpool South MP Gordon Marsden told a local paper that government must assure communities that shale gas exploration will not pose a safety risk