Challenging participants at U.N. talks here to reach a new global climate agreement by Friday's self-imposed deadline, Kerry said the U.S. would increase the amount of money it provides for climate adaption grants to $860 million from $430 million by 2020. Developing nations have been demanding more money for adaption as they struggle with increased extreme weather events, like hurricanes, heavy rains and floods.
The money will be part of an existing promise by wealthy countries to jointly mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance. It will help fund domestic weather services and tracking systems to better assist poorer nations in forecasting and coping with extreme weather.
Kerry made the announcement in a speech to the climate conference outside Paris.
In it, he noted the increasing damage from increasingly frequent severe weather, such as the recent flooding in Chennai, India, and smog in China's capital. Along with other events, "they are warning signs that no rational person should ignore," Kerry said, adding that the meeting "may well be the best chance we have to correct the course our planet is on."
Read more at Kerry Promises $800M in Climate Aid for World's Poorest
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