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Press
GLOBAL POLLUTION REMEDIATION FUND LAUNCHES
Consortium Plans $400 Million for Environmental Clean Ups
New York, October 17, 2007 -- An international consortium of environmental
ministers, researchers and non-governmental organizations has agreed to the
launch of The Global Pollution Remediation Fund (GPRF) a planned $400
million fund dedicated to combating toxic pollution in the developing world..
The announcement by U.S. environmental group, Blacksmith Institute, follows
a conference in Bellagio, Italy, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Attendees at the meeting included representatives from governmental agencies
of the United States, Germany, China, Russia, Mozambique, Kenya, the
Philippines, the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization, Green Cross Switzerland, Blacksmith Institute and leading
researchers from in public health and pollution remediation.
"As citizens of the richer countries of the world, we have a responsibility
to act", said Margrit von Braun of the University of Idaho. "We have
already solved these problems in our own countries we have an obligation
to transfer our knowledge and resources."
The Fund will be directed to cleaning up over 400 highly polluted locations
worldwide that affect more than 100 million people with reduced life
expectancy, increased cancer risks and severe neurological damage, amongst
other health impacts. Donors will now be approached to raise the necessary
monies.
The group concurred that the international community must act immediately to
deal with legacy industrial, military, and mining pollution in the poorer
countries of the world. They also agreed to the basic protocols for the
Fundıs inception and management. "Legacy" refers to residual pollution from
activities that are no longer taking place, such as defunct industrial or
mining operations.
The clean-up work will be cost effective: a recent Blacksmith Institute
study reviewed by researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that the
cost of implementation of remediation projects ranges between a meager $40
to $500 per life saved. Projects will be implemented by local stakeholders
with technical and monetary assistance provided by the GPRF. Only the most
cost-effective technologies will be employed and work will be directed to
those places where pollution is causing the most harm to humans, especially
children.
The meeting in Bellagio was organized by Blacksmith Institute, whose recent
report "The Top Ten World's Worst Polluted Places" focused intense
international attention to the most highly polluted sites in the world.
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