Obama Pays $500 Million to UN Fund That Trump Vows to Cut Off
U.S. has now contributed $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund.
(Bloomberg) -- Three days before leaving office, President Barack Obama made a $500 million contribution to a United Nations climate fund, part of a commitment under the Paris climate accord that Donald Trump has vowed to rescind.
The U.S. has now contributed $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund to help poor nations develop clean energy and cope with the impact of global warming, according to a statement Tuesday from the U.S. State Department.
The U.S. pledged to donate a total of $3 billion over four years to the fund when it helped broker the landmark Paris agreement in 2015. Trump has vowed to cancel future payments to the fund and redirect them toward projects in the U.S.
The funding was approved last year through the 2016 Economic Support Fund appropriation. Trump’s transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Ryan in New York at jryan173@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Will Wade, Jim Efstathiou Jr.