Fund, Fund, Fund 'til Daddy Took the T-Note Away

U.N. climate talks continue, but dissension rules the day

As week two of the U.N. climate talks kicks off in Nairobi, Kenya, debate is raging over how to manage a fund that will help poorer countries adapt to climate change. Western countries want the $3 million fund -- which is expected to grow to $750 million -- to be run by a group allied with the World Bank. But developing countries want to run it themselves or use a less restrictive manager, so they can access the money more quickly. (Next thing you know, they'll be asking for the car keys.) Observers worry that the feud is distracting from the real issue: what to do when the Kyoto Protocol expires. "After last year's relatively successful [U.N. climate] meeting, there is a feeling here of people resting on their laurels," says Andy Atkins of the relief agency Tearfund. "Unless they get agreement here on when to start discussions on post-2012 targets, they're in danger of not having post-2012 targets." Members of the Subcommittee on When to Start Discussions On Targets had no comment.