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| India joins $350 mn climate change project |
| Lalit K Jha/PTI / Washington Oct 21, 2009, 15:02 IST |
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India along with five other developing countries has joined a group of five rich nations to work on a $350-million project to fight climate change through forest management.
The six developing nations which also include Brazil, Congo, Morocco, Nepal and Romania have joined the group of five contributing countries- the US, Australia, Britain, Denmark and Norway - under the governing body of the Forest Investment Programme (FIP).
This signals the commitment of these countries to a unique partnership to combat climate change through forest management, the World Bank said.
"This new program will provide much-needed upfront investment to developing countries and forest-dependent communities to help them prepare for and benefit from financial flows for the sustainable management of forests," said Eduardo Saboia, who represented Brazil in the series of FIP design meetings.
The FIP Trust Fund Sub-Committee will meet in Washington for the first time on October 29 to begin implementation of the Program including consideration of criteria for how to select pilot countries and regions.
The FIP governance structure is among the first in a new generation of partnerships among developing and developed countries and other stakeholders which takes account of the need for a level playing field in addressing climate action, the bank said, adding that FIP investment programs will be implemented through a limited number of country-led and owned FIP pilot programs.
"These should lead to replicable models resulting in effective forest management, improved forest governance and information systems, restoration and sustainable management of degraded forests, forest protection measures, and other investments to reduce the pressure on forests, both inside and outside the forest sector," it said.
The pilot programs will be chosen by taking into account country distribution across regions and biomass, ensuring that the FIP will generate broad lessons addressing a range of challenges for the sustainable management of forests.
"Deforestation is a global tragedy, destroying the homes and livelihoods of some of the world's poorest people.
Rampant, large scale deforestation also produces more carbon emissions than the entire world's planes, ships and cars combined," said Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development for the UK, which pledged upto 100 million pound for the FIP.
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