After months of delays, board members of the designed to help impoverished countries cope with global climate change, will hold their first meeting in Geneva. In 2011, developed nations agreed to pledge $100 billion toward climate change aid. However, a lack of funding and disagreement over which country should host the fund has led to delays. 鈥淭he timing really couldn鈥檛 be more urgent. In the U.S. alone, we鈥檝e heard all these stories about droughts and massive crop damage and rampant wildfires this summer with concerns over rising food prices,鈥 said Brandon Wu, a senior policy analyst at ActionAid USA. 鈥淭he effects are even more severe in developing countries, where vulnerable smallholder farmers don鈥檛 have the protection of things that we have here like crop insurance and social safety nets.鈥 Currently, only $30 billion of funding is available, part of a separate agreement at the 2009 Copenhagen talks. The $100 billion pledged in 2011 has yet to be collected, leaving a funding gap at the end of this year.
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