Egypt has officially agreed with several developing nations to request that the G-8 industrial countries establish a US$30-billion fund before 2012 to finance projects aimed at offsetting the adverse effects said to be associated with climate change. Egypt is expected to submit the request on Monday at the Cancun Climate Change Conference in Mexico. At last year's Copenhagen G-8 summit, industrial countries had announced their willingness to establish the fund, to which they vowed to add an additional US$100 billion every year. Participants at the conference said that developing countries supported the Egyptian initiative, stressing that developed nations must live up to their commitments as laid out in the United Nations agreement on climate change. Participants also said that the role of the private sector in this regard should complement those of national governments. In a related development, the United Nations Environment Program on Wednesday announced the completion of a study on means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also said that commitments taken on by G-8 countries at Copenhagen could aid scientific efforts aimed at reducing global temperatures by two degrees centigrade. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
