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New funds to help poor nations tackle climate change

Other News Materials 23 May 2008 22:58 (UTC +04:00)

Industrial nations have agreed to help poorer countries adapt to the dangers of global warming through a new set of funding mechanisms, the World Bank announced Friday, the dpa reported.

Members of 40 countries agreed two new "Climate Investment Funds" - one to help developing nations reduce their own greenhouse-gas emissions and another to protect themselves from the impacts of a warmer planet - at a meeting in Potsdam, Germany on Thursday, the World Bank said.

The United States has already pledged 2 billion dollars over three years to the Clean Technology Fund, one of many countries that have offered donations. The separate adaptation fund will also provide loans to help countries pay for new climate measures, the World Bank said.

"Climate change is happening here and now and this initiative will provide crucial support to developing countries," Gareth Thomas, Britain's minister of trade and development, said in a statement.

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