International Consortium Launches $400 Million Global Pollution Remediation Fund
International Consortium Launches $400 Million Global Pollution Remediation Fund
The Blacksmith Institute, a U.S.-based environmental group, has announced the launch of the Global Pollution Remediation Fund, which will dedicate $400 million to combating toxic pollution in the developing world.
The announcement was made after a Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored conference in Bellagio, Italy, where representatives from governmental agencies of the United States, Germany, China, Russia, Mozambique, Kenya, and the Philippines, as well as the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Green Cross Switzerland, and Blacksmith weighed in on the proposed fund. The consortium agreed that the international community must act immediately to deal with legacy industrial, military, and mining pollution in the world's poorer countries; "legacy" refers to residual pollution from activities no longer taking place, such as defunct industrial or mining operations. Representatives also agreed to the basic protocols for the fund's inception and management.
The fund will be directed toward cleaning up at least four hundred highly polluted locations worldwide that affect more than a hundred million people — people who suffer from reduced life expectancy, increased cancer risk, and severe neurological damage. Projects initiated with GPRF funds will be implemented by local stakeholders, with technical and further monetary assistance provided by the fund. Work will be directed to places where pollution is causing the most harm to humans, especially children.
"As citizens of the richer countries of the world, we have a responsibility to act," said Margrit von Braun of the University of Idaho. "We have already solved these problems in our own countries — we have an obligation to transfer our knowledge and resources."
“Global Pollution Remediation Fund Launches.”
Blacksmith Institute Press Release
10/17/07.
Primary Subject: Environment
Secondary Subject(s): International Affairs/Development
Location(s): Bellagio, China, Germany, Idaho, International, Italy, Kenya, Mozambique, National, Philippines, Russia, Switzerland
FC011111
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