Cascade Coal battle heads to court

Mining magnate Travers Duncan and Cascade Coal will take their fight for the reinstatement of a corruptly obtained coal exploration licence to the High Court after it was cancelled by the New South Wales Parliament, according to The Australian.

Duncan, a large shareholder in Cascade, will argue the move by the NSW government to take away the Cascade Coal exploration licence on land owned by former Labor frontbencher and powerbroker Eddie Obeid was unconstitutional.

UGL hammers out details in Taylor contract

UGL is expected to finalise the contract for new engineering head Ross Taylor in the next few days as the market waits for confirmation that the struggling company has sold its DTZ property business, according to the Australian Financial Review.

While it is understood final talks over the sale of DTZ to private equity firm TPG are ongoing, UGL is also in final negotiations with Taylor, who has been running engineering design group Tenix since early 2009.

If Taylor’s appointment is confirmed and he performs well, he is expected to succeed UGL chief executive Richard Leupen when he retires.

Fossil fuel reliance puts world on track for 3.6C rise in temperature: IEA

Global investment in fossil fuel energy continues to outpace new spending on renewable sources, leaving the world on track for temperature increases of at least 3.6C, according to a report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Last year, more than $US1.1 trillion ($A1.19 trillion) was poured into the extraction, transport and burning of fossil fuels, producing much of the greenhouse gas emissions largely blamed for global warming.

By contrast, $250 billion was invested in clean energy sources, such as solar and wind energy, down from the 2011 peak of $300 billion, the IEA said in its inaugural World Energy Investment Outlook study.

Energy efficiency efforts attracted another $130 billion.