20/03/२००८ CHIBA, Japan (AP) - The world's wealthy countries need to pump more money into financing poorer nations' efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and cope with climate change, environmentalists said Friday ahead of a global warming conference.Representatives of 20 countries - including the United States, European nations, Japan and China - were to hold a weekend meeting outside Tokyo to focus on developing clean technology and financing the race to stave off possible environmental disaster caused by rising world temperatures.
Environmentalists were taking aim at the U.S.-backed clean technology fund to which Washington announced a US$2 billion contribution in January.
The U.S. government says the fund, which is seeking donations from other countries, would speed up the development of cleaner, more efficient technologies, in developing nations, especially up-and-coming polluters like India and China.
Japan, meanwhile, has pledged US$10 billion over five years for a similar fund, and Britain last year announced its own fund.
To be effective, funds such as the U.S. one need more money. They hould be formed with full consultation with the countries receiving the funds and should continually generate additional money, said Jennifer Morgan, with the E3G environmentalist group.
"Unfortunately, none of these criteria have been met," she told reporters.
