Climate fund allots $1bn for poor nations

Climate fund allots $1bn for poor nations

News:

1. United Nation’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved more than $1 billion in new investments to tackle climate change after a four-day meeting in Bahrain.

Important Facts:

2. About UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF):

• The GCF was established at the Sixteenth Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010. The headquarters of its secretariat is located in Songdo, Incheon, Seoul, South Korea Republic.
• It channels taxpayer funds from rich countries, including the US, the UK, further EU member states and others, to developing countries that would otherwise struggle to invest in low-emissions technology and infrastructure to adapt to a warming world.
• The GCF is governed by a Board of 24 members representing developed and developing countries equally.
• It is considered a key vehicle for climate-related development programmes.

3. Background: USA President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold $2 billion of the $3 billion pledged by predecessor Barack Obama has contributed to a fund shortfall.
4. In its 21st meeting, the GCF also approved 19 new projects, including a programme to protect freshwater resources in Bahrain.
5. However environmentalists had argued the Gulf nation should pay for the project itself using money it made from its vast reserves of oil and gas.