United Nations, World Bank approve environment grants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United Nations and World Bank's Global Environment Facility (GEF) on Tuesday said it has approved $153.7 million in grants for 14 environmental projects ranging from assessing the impact of climate change to harnessing wind power in China.

Other projects included in the package include reducing shrimp trawling's environmental damage and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Along with other financing, the 14 projects will cost about $461.2 million.

GEF, jointly run by the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Environment Program and the World Bank, provides grants aimed at helping developing countries protect the global environment.

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Among the projects approved was a $7.85 million grant to scientifically assess climate change impacts and adaptation options for the most vulnerable developing countries.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that warming over the next 100 years could be even higher than their estimate in 1995, raising the temperature in the worst case by 11 degrees Fahrenheit, rather than the 6.3 degrees they predicted five years ago.

"Global warming on such a scale would have the most disastrous effects on people and the environment in the most vulnerable countries," GEF Chairman and Chief Executive Mohamed El-Ashry said in a statement.

Another $4.7 million project approved aims to halve the amount of fish caught in nets of shrimp trawlers in six tropical countries -- Costa Rica, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Philippines, and Venezuela -- and reduce the accidental killing of sea turtles.

The GEF also agreed to help China, the world's third largest energy consumer, to harness wind power and reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. The $12 million grant to China is part of a larger a $98 million project. The remaining funds will be provided by the Asian Development Bank, and provincial power companies and banks in China.

GEF also approved a $10.2 million grant to help protect Sri Lanka's rich biodiversity while alleviating poverty, a root cause of threats to that biodiversity.

Other projects as part of the package were:

• An $18.675 million grant for biological diversity in Burkina Faso.



• A $16.45 million grant for Mexico's "Consolidation of the Protected Areas Program."



• A separate Mexican grant of $6.733 million for biodiversity conservation in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve.



• A $4.59 million grant to help Croatia study improving energy efficiency.



• A $10 million energy efficiency grant for Romania.



• $16.79 million in grants to help reverse environmental degradation trends in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand.

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The World Bank Group
Global Environment Facility
European Union
United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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