The United States will give $3 billion to a U.N.-established fund to help poorer vulnerable countries prepare for a changing climate and develop cleaner energy, President Barack Obama announced Saturday.
The United Nations is trying to raise at least $10 billion for its Green Climate Fund to help developing nations adjust to rising seas, warmer temperatures and more extreme weather. It also would help the nations come up with energy sources that limit or reduce heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil and gas.
Obama said the money would help farmers plant more resilient crops, governments to cut carbon dioxide emissions and communities to develop better defenses against storm surges and other climate-related changes.
But Obama said combatting climate change cannot be the work of government alone. "Citizens— especially young people like you — have to keep raising your voices, because you deserve to live your lives in a world that is cleaner and healthier," he said while announcing the pledge during a speech at a university in Brisbane, Australia.
The American pledge would be the biggest to date and would double contributions to $6 billion, according to international environmental groups.
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