The United States will double the amount of money it gives out in grants for developing countries to help fight the effects of climate change.
In an announcement from Paris Wednesday morning, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would start spending $800 million per year in grants to developing countries that are vulnerable to the effects of climate change by 2020.
“We will not leave the most vulnerable nations among us to, quite literally, weather the storm alone,” Kerry said.
The announcement came at the 21st Conference of the Parties, better known as COP21, where countries from around the world are meeting in hopes of reaching a deal that would decrease the rate of global warming. An updated draft agreement is expected to be released Wednesday afternoon.
Kerry’s commitment to spend more money on grants for developing countries is a part of a worldwide movement to spend $100 billion per year on fighting the effects of climate change by 2020.
The grant money will go to “vulnerable countries to reduce climate risks in key areas, including infrastructure, agriculture, health and water services,” according to a State Department fact sheet. The U.S. spent $400 million on similar grants in 2014.
Kerry said the goal is to help countries who have contributed the least to the carbon dioxide emissions many scientists believe drive climate change but are impacted the most.
“We have the rarest of opportunities to actually change the world and improve the lives of billions of people,” Kerry said.
It’s another large investment announced by President Obama’s administration at the Paris talks.
Last week, Obama announced the U.S. would contribute $248 million to the Least Developed Countries Fund, which works to address the climate change needs of developing countries. Obama also announced the U.S. would chip in $30 million to support the Pacific Catastrophic Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative, the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility and the African Risk Capacity program.
