U.S. Proposes $100B Climate Fund

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed in Copenhagen on Thursday that the U.S. and other major world economies come up with a $100 billion a year over the next decade to help developing nations fight climate change. Clinton said the plan is dependent on reaching a “strong accord” by the end of the summit. She did not say how much the U.S. would contribute to the $100 billion annual amount. Britain and developing African nations were cautiously optimistic about the proposal, but China—which the U.S. says must agree to transparent emissions cuts as a precondition to any agreement and which has signaled it does not believe an agreement can be reached in Copenhagen—said, “At first glance, we don’t see the U.S. has made much progress in its commitments.” Clinton, for her part, called on China to commit to the fund: “It would be hard to imagine, speaking for the United States, that there could be the level of financial commitment that I have just announced in the absence of transparency from the second-biggest emitter—and now I guess the first-biggest emitter—and now nearly, if not already, the second-biggest economy."