Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Ahead of next month’s Copenhagen Summit, it has been detected that money pledged to developing nations in the 2001 Bonn Declaration can’t be traced.
A BBC investigation has revealed that large sums promised to developing countries in the Bonn Declaration of 2001 to help them in tackling climate change cannot be traced.
“Rich countries pledged USD 410m a year in a 2001 declaration - but it is now unclear whether the money was paid,” the BBC report said inciting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to say that industrialised countries had failed to keep their promise.
“The EU says the money was paid out in bilateral deals, but admits it cannot provide data to prove it,” the probe found.
Twenty industrialised nations, including European Union, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland, had pledged in Bonn to pay USD 410m per year until 2008.
"We are prepared to contribute USD 410m, which is 450 million euro, per year by 2005 with this level to be reviewed in 2008," the declaration said.
“But only USD 260m has ever been paid into two UN funds earmarked for the purpose,” the investigation unveiled.
First Published: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 00:21