Coalition backs 'cloud-brightening' trial on Great Barrier Reef to tackle global heating

Greens deride $4.7m funding for technologies that may shade corals and make clouds more reflective as Band-Aid solutions'

A government-backed research program to make the Great Barrier Reef more resilient to global heating will spend $4.7m this financial year developing technologies that could shade corals and make clouds more reflective during marine heatwaves.

The announcement confirms the development of a technique known as marine cloud brightening, trialled on the reef in March, will be backed as part of the government's $443m grant being coordinated by the not-for-profit Great Barrier Reef Foundation.