A UN-managed fund designed to protect the global environment from catastrophic threats has received a funding boost of 3.13 billion dollars, officials said Monday. The World Bank said donors' record contribution to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) could not be better timed as ecological "red flags" mount, including climate change, loss of species, land degradation and pollution.
"This strong show of support from the international donor community is remarkable, and signals firm commitment to protecting the global environment," said the GEF's chairwoman, Monique Barbut.
"We cannot be complacent, and time is not on our side," she warned after the money was agreed by international donors attending the fund's third annual meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.
"The global environment is facing unprecedented threats, and these funds have to be translated rapidly into projects, programmes and policies that make a difference in developing countries," Barbut said.
The GEF was a fruit of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro to fund global environment protection projects. It is administered by the UN Development Programme, the UN Environment Programme and the World Bank.
