Obama to pledge $3 billion for international climate fund

President Barack Obama will announce a $3 billion U.S. contribution to the green climate fund, an international effort to help poor countries cope with the affects of climate change, an administration official said on Friday.


The amount of the contribution took climate policy watchers by surprise and doubles what other countries had previously pledged ahead of a Nov. 20 deadline. It would be the second major move on climate change taken by Obama after big Democratic losses in last week's midterm elections.

Obama is expected to announce the pledge at this weekend's meeting of G-20 industrial nations in Australia.

The United States will join other countries, including Mexico, South Korea, Germany, France, and Japan, in pledging to the fund.

The fund will work in step with private sector investment and help spur global markets in clean energy technologies, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and manufacturers including those from the United States.

Rich countries had pledged in 2009 to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries tackle climate emissions and respond to its damage.

Earlier this week, Obama announced a climate agreement with China. The United States will strive to cut total greenhouse emissions by about 25 percent by 2025, while China will aim for a peak in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.