Groups want enviro-funds out of World Bank

POZNAN, Poland, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Environmental groups voiced opposition to placing more than $100 billion in aid to developing countries in the World Bank during talks in Poland.

Speaking during the U.N. climate talks in Poznan, Poland, the organizations called for climate funds, and how they are used, to be made accountable to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Poland's Inter Press Service reported Wednesday.

The group of developing countries and China, together representing 133 developing countries at the talks, prefer to put the funds under control of the convention, IPS reported. Developed countries have been asked to contribute to the fund.

"The World Bank is not a credible institution to play any role in addressing the climate crisis," said Karen Orenstein of Friends of the Earth-United States. "Its climate investment funds are irreparably flawed and should be shut down."

The funds must come through a mechanism controlled by the U.N. climate convention "in which all parties have equal say," Orenstein said.

The two-week session in Poznan, which began Dec. 1, serves as a bridge for negotiations on a climate change document between the Bali talks held in December 2007 and Copenhagen talks scheduled for next year.