Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday said the country would establish a 1 billion Australian dollar ($760 million) fund for innovation in clean energy, a major departure from his predecessor's much-maligned approach to climate change.
Conservative former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was criticized by environmental groups for lagging behind other advanced economies when he announced cuts to Australia's greenhouse gas emissions last year.
Abbott, a climate change skeptic who was ousted in a party coup by Turnbull in September, also faced criticism for his strong support for the coal industry and for scrapping an ambitious carbon tax and emissions trading plan in 2014.