Officials overseeing a U.N.-backed fund to help poor countries tackle climate change have approved more than $1 billion in new investments after a four-day meeting in Bahrain. The Green Climate Fund said on Sunday that the meeting approved 19 new projects, including a programme to protect freshwater resources in Bahrain. Environmentalists had argued the Gulf nation should pay for the project itself using money it made from its vast reserves of oil and gas. Officials also agreed to start seeking new money for the fund next year. President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold $2 billion of the $3 billion pledged by predecessor Barack Obama has contributed to a fund shortfall. The South Korea-based fund is considered a key vehicle for climate-related development programmes.
