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  ENN 31 Aug 06
Pledges of $3.1 Billion for Environment Project 'Too Little'
By Clare Nullis, Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa: Government promises of US$3.1 billion (euro2.42 billion) for conservation projects over the next four years are far too little to offset the damage being wreaked by climate change, organizers of an environmental summit said Wednesday.

The three-day conference ended amid criticism that the world's poorest countries were being neglected by the Global Environment Facility, and that its funding allocations were too secretive.

The Facility, a partnership between the United Nations and World Bank, is the world's largest financing mechanism for projects to combat pollution and promote sustainable development.

The money pledged at the conference, however, was "far from being enough," U.N. Environment Program chief Achim Steiner said.

"In 2006, if we look not only at climate change, but in fact what is happening to ecosystems and global fisheries, it is simply not an adequate response to the scale of the issues we have to confront," he said.

The main donors to the fund are industrialized nations, blamed for the bulk of the pollution which is believed to be contributing to climate change.

The biggest beneficiaries are China -- to help the rapidly industrializing nation control its greenhouse gas emissions -- and Brazil, for projects to protect biodiversity.

South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who chaired the conference of nearly 2,000 delegates, said that many poorer countries wanted future money to be distributed according to a "vulnerability index" to help them cope with phenomena such as desertification and soil degradation.

The aim of the meeting was to "replenish" the fund, which was set up in 1991. Thirty-two countries pledged contributions totaling US$3.1 billion (euro2.42 billion), to be spent over the next four years on projects that meet the mechanism's "green" criteria.

Since it was set up, the fund has allocated more than US$2 billion in projects to reduce greenhouse gases. It has supported more than 1,500 sites to protect biodiversity covering 300 million acres; spent US$890 million to help maritime projects; and spent US$435 million to combat land degradation.

It claims that funding for programs in the former Soviet bloc has helped the region cut use of ozone-eating chemicals by 90 percent.

The Facility also gives smaller grants to nongovernmental groups in 90 countries for some 7,000 community-based conservation projects.

South Africa, for instance, has used Facility funding to preserve the Cape Floral Kingdom, set up a big conservation area and improve a national elephant park.

The World Bank warned during the conference that up to one quarter of its development programs may be at risk because of climate change, especially projects in small island states that are already being affected by rising sea levels and storm surges and dry sub-Saharan African countries.

During the past century the global climate warmed by about 0.7 degrees Celsius because of human activities, with accompanying changes in rainfall patterns, extreme weather events, and sea levels, and another 1.4C-5.8C temperature rise is projected in the next 100 years.

This is expected to lead to an increased risk of floods, droughts and diseases such as malaria in many regions, falling agricultural productivity and damage to fisheries and many ecological systems.
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