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2. Indonesia: “Adaptation Fund” on the table at UN Convention (Various Sources)

An “Adaptation Fund” to help developing countries cope with climate change is on the agenda at a United Nations convention taking place this week in Indonesia.

Representatives from more than 180 countries are meeting to negotiate a plan to address climate change. Yvo de Boer is the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He says that one of the goals of the meeting is to put the Adaptation Fund into action.

The concept of an adaptation fund was developed 10 years ago as part of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. In essence, the idea is to collect money from the world’s richest countries, which contribute most to climate change, to support activities designed to mitigate the negative effects of climate change in developing countries.

In particular, the adaptation fund is intended to protect and rehabilitate areas affected by drought and desertification, particularly in Africa, as well as to help island and coastal countries cope with rising sea levels.

To date, some 67 million US dollars, or 45 million Euros, has been collected for the Adaptation Fund, but no money has been distributed. Representatives from some developing countries, along with several NGOs concerned with international cooperation, are pushing for a mechanism to finance the Adaptation Fund consistently, and ensure that it is used.