Commonwealth supports climate change fund

A proposed climate change fund agreed by the British and French leaders at the recent Commonwealth summit will start next year, and will amount to $10 billion annually by 2012. The plan is aimed to help developing countries to deal with climate change and to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Most of the Commonwealth members are island states which are in imminent danger of rising sea levels due to climate change. Commonwealth leaders urged for a stronger outcome at the coming climate summit in Copenhagen and decided to form an international agreement on climate change by 2010.

David Miliband, British Foreign Secretary, said that the announcement has sent a clear political message on the issue. He further added that the Commonwealth stands on a common ground over climate change amidst countries’ differences.

The Commonwealth, representing one-third of the world’s population, believes that the time for climate change action has come. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed that half of the fund should be used to help developing countries in reducing their greenhouse emissions, while the other half will be utilized to support nations mitigate the impact of climate change.

Commonwealth leaders gathered just days after pledges by China and the US to cut their emissions. During an interview, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh informed that he is also going to unveil ambitious carbon emission targets at the Copenhagen summit.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon believes that an agreement will be met, with several countries now making positive steps to cut emissions. Similarly, Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN’s panel on climate change, is very confident that a deal will be reached during the summit.