Green Climate Fund approves 8 new projects worth US$755 mln

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- The Green Climate Fund, the South Korea-based United Nations climate fund aimed at helping poor nations fight global warming, has approved eight new projects worth US$755 million, according to the organization Friday.

The approval, which was made at the fund's board meeting in South Korea on Thursday, brought its total portfolio to 43 projects and programs worth $2.2 billion.

Among the new projects is a $86 million hydro-power development program for the Tina River in the Solomon Islands.

South Korean firms, including the state-run Korea Water Resources Corp. and Hyundai Engineering Co., joined the Tina River project, according to South Korea's finance ministry.

Other new projects included renewable energy and energy efficiency programs across five regions: one each in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa.

In a statement, Ewen McDonald, co-chair of the fund, said, "We made good progress in 2016 and now need to show we can implement the funding we have committed by strengthening our core operations and improving the quality of the project pipeline, which, together, will see us deliver real and lasting outcomes."

Launched in late 2010, the GCF aims to channel money from industrialized nations to developing countries to help them tackle climate change-related problems.
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