US vows to double cash for poor to deal with climate change

Le Bourget, Dec 9 : The United States today vowed to double the money it spends helping poorer countries deal with the immediate effects of climate change. ”We will not leave the most vulnerable nations among us to, quite literally, weather the storm alone,” Secretary of State John Kerry told the UN climate summit in Paris. American officials said the US budget for so-called climate “adaptation” would double from around USD 430 million in 2014 to more than USD 800 million by 2020.

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The increase would not come at the cost of Washington’s existing climate commitments, but Congress will be asked to re-prioritise State Department and Treasury budgets. The extra funding will be used for grant-based support for countries, a senior official said, including schemes to protect mangrove forests or improve local weather forecasts. More...

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