World News | The Latest on COP27 -- This Year's Annual UN Summit on Climate Change

Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), Nov 7 (AP) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $1.4 billion to support agricultural projects across Africa and South Asia that it said will help small farmers adapt to climate change.

The foundation's CEO Mark Suzman announced the commitment Monday, saying it was in response to calls from African leaders to increase financing for climate adaptation.

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Some of the funds will expand initiatives run by the International Fund for Agricultural Development that support women farmers, who Melinda French Gates called the “backbone” of African food systems in a a statement. Funds will also go to major agricultural research institutions.

The foundation has one of the largest endowments of any philanthropic foundation. It has supported agricultural research, information systems and the piloting of new kinds of seeds and livestock interventions in Africa since at least 2006.

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Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley warned on Monday that leaders lacked “the simple political will” to “make a definable difference in the lives of the people who we have a responsibility to serve” as she called for new funding mechanisms that would allow nations to address climate change.

Mottley called for $5 trillion of private sector savings to be unlocked to stop the emissions of planet-warming gases, but added it would “require a change in the attitude” of developed countries.

She urged that nations should “look at other innovative ways to expand the lending that is available from billions to trillions”. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)