Panama City, Mar. 5 (BNA): The US State Department on Friday provided details of $6 billion in financing pledges worldwide to protect the oceans and combat climate change.
The amount was first announced Thursday by Washington’s climate envoy John Kerry at an ocean conference in Panama and includes 77 different commitments, the US State Department said in a press release on Friday.
The total includes about $3 billion in climate and climate resilience research commitments that were part of the Reducing Inflation Act passed by Congress last year, according to the State Department.
Reuters reported that commitments also include more than $665 million for sustainable fisheries and more than $200 million to tackle marine pollution.
“The climate crisis and the ocean crisis are two things the same. We can’t address one without the other,” Kerry said Thursday at the “Our Ocean 2023” conference, which brought together private and public sector representatives from more than 190 countries.
Of the 77 commitments, 30 are directed at climate change, amounting to about $5 billion in total.
Washington’s announcement comes in conjunction with the European Union’s announcement Thursday of pledges of 816.5 million euros ($867.45 million).
HF