CLIMATE CHANGE HELP FOR THE POOR `HAS NOT MATERIALISED`

25.11.2009 [14:24]
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Baku, 25 November (AZERTAC). Rich countries pledged $410m a year in a 2001 declaration - but it is now unclear whether the money was paid.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has accused industrialized countries of failing to keep their promise.

The EU says the money was paid out in bilateral deals, but admits it cannot provide data to prove it.

The money was pledged in the 2001 Bonn Declaration, signed by 20 industrialized nations - the 15 countries that then made up the European Union, plus Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

They said they would pay $410m per year until 2008. The date the payments were meant to start is unclear, but the total should be between $1.6bn and $2.87bn.

The declaration said: "We are prepared to contribute $410m, which is 450 million euro, per year by 2005 with this level to be reviewed in 2008."

But only $260m has ever been paid into two UN funds earmarked for the purpose, the BBC World Service investigation has found.

"There have been promises which have not been fully materialized. There is an issue of trust," says Ban Ki-moon.

The question of finance for developing countries to tackle climate change is one of the keys to a deal at the Copenhagen summit next month.

Poor countries may not sign up to a new agreement unless they trust rich countries to keep their promises, and are satisfied with the mechanisms put in place to handle the flow of funds.

CLIMATE CHANGE HELP FOR THE POOR `HAS NOT MATERIALISED`

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