The UK government's plan to propose an £800m offer to poor countries in order to prepare them for climate change has sparked controversy with environmental activist groups. The money would be in the form of grants or loans and would be channelled through the World Bank rather than the UN.

Internationally agreed principles state that developed countries should take most of the burden when battling climate change because they are the ones who generate most of the problem and have the technological advantages to solve such problems. Martin Khor of the Third World Network says the money should be channelled through the UN and not the World Bank.

"Developing countries have repeatedly argued that any proposed funds for climate change, particularly in such significant amounts, should come under the direction of the state parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"The World Bank's climate investment funds could undermine the UN's negotiations for climate change aid," said Khor. "It creates parallel structures for financing climate change adaptation and mitigation outside the existing multilateral structures and within a process dominated by the G8 countries." (Quoted in The Guardian)

The proposed plan has created a stir with activists who believe it would add to the problem of debt. The director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign, Nick Reardon, says, "The ongoing debt crisis is already hampering poor countries attempts to cope with climate change - new loans will only fuel the problem. Rich countries owe poor countries a huge environmental debt - but yet again it is the poor who are being asked to pay for the rich world's mistakes." (Quoted in The Guardian)

The £800 is meant to stretch over three years and aims to help poor countries tackle climate change and develop in ways that support environmental protection. Of that money, £50m will go to 10 countries in Africa to jump start the campaign against the deforestation of the Congo.

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