Wednesday, February 10, 2010

November 19, 2009 10:51 AM

South Korea To Donate US$20 Million To Set Up ADB Carbon Fund

SEOUL, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- South Korea will contribute US$20 million to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over the next four years, to set up a new fund aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Thursday.

The ministry said this fund is a part of Seoul's efforts to win emission credits, and the nation will make an annual contributions of US$5 million to the ADB's Future Carbon Fund, the Yonhap news agency reported.

"The contribution to the ADB can help developing countries engage in eco-friendly growth and open new possibilities for local companies to gain access to various overseas clean development mechanism projects," a ministry official said.

Quoting the ministry official, Yonhap news agency reported that the measure will also enable Seoul to win valuable carbon emission credits, which can later used to allow the country to release more greenhouse gases than it pledged to cut.

The donation is to come from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) operated by Seoul to help developing economies and various global projects.

The Manila-based ADB is striving to set up the $200 million fund, with half of the total coming from governments while the remainder will come from the private sector.

The ministry said the other countries namely Sweden, Finland, Belgium and Portugal, also have pledged to contribute US$20 million each.

-- BERNAMA

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