Germany pledges $1bn to UN climate change fund
Aid group Oxfam has called on other rich nations to follow the example of Germany, which has promised 750m ($1bn) for the UN's fledgling Green Climate Fund.
"This announcement ends the deafening silence we've had so far around the empty Green Climate Fund that is supposed to support poor countries in the battle against climate change. Now others must follow suit," Oxfam Germany's Jan Kowalzig said.
"If rich countries such as the US, France, the UK, Japan and others manage to collect at least $15 billion in pledges ahead of the upcoming UN climate negotiations in Lima at the end of the year, this could give the talks a significant boost," he added in a statement.
The announcement by Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, where some 35 ministers from around the world are meeting to discuss international climate action, is the only large pledge of money for the Green Climate Fund so far.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/15/germany-pledges-1bn-to-un-climate-change-fund