Poor Nations Stiffed on Climate Pledges

Billions in promised cash unaccounted for
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2009 4:28 AM CST
Poor Nations Stiffed on Climate Pledges
The carcass of a buffalo that had died due to drought lies in front of flamingos, on the shore of lake Nakuru in Kenya.    (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

Huge sums of money promised by EU countries to help poor nations cope with climate change have melted away faster than Arctic ice. The EU and five other industrialized nations promised developing countries $410 million a year in the 2001 Bonn declaration, but the UN funds set up to deal with the funds have received only $260 million in the 8 years since, a BBC investigation finds.

Not only have the funds not materialized, but it's impossible to pin down what happened to the money. EU officials say they met their end of the bargain and spent the promised money on other deals separate from the UN funds, although they admit that they can't provide any data to prove this. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon accuses the nations of breaking their promises. "There is an issue of trust," he said.
(More climate change stories.)

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