Stockholm - Sweden is to earmark 1.1 billion kronor (139 million dollars) for bilateral aid to climate change programmes in "high risk" countries over the coming three years, the government said Wednesday. International Development Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson said the programmes would target countries "at high risk in combination with high vulnerability."
These included Bolivia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Burkina Faso, and Mali as well as regions in Africa and Asia, Carlsson said in an article in Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter.
"I have visited several of these countries and seen how people have been impacted by floods in Cambodia's river deltas or extensive drought as in Mali or Burkina Faso due to climate change," Carlsson said.
The funds would support programmes mainly in "the environment, water and energy sectors" as well as efforts to implement national adaptation programmes under the provisions of the United Nations climate change convention.
Some of Carlsson's trips to vulnerable areas were made as part of the work of a 12-member commission she heads.
The commission is due in May to present proposals on how to "climate-proof development". Members include 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai of Kenya, known for her grassroots environmental work.
