Global Pollution Remediation Fund Launches.

Consortium Plans $400 Million for Environmental Clean Ups

NEW YORK -- 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 within the public health and pollution remediation fields.

"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 toward cleaning up over 400 highly polluted locations worldwide that affect more than 100 million people - people who suffer from reduced life expectancies, increased cancer risks and severe neurological damage. 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 Fund's 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 initiated with GPRF funds 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.

About Blacksmith Institute

Blacksmith Institute works around the globe to identify dangerously polluted sites and initiate their clean up, using its Polluted Places methodology to focus efforts on the most productive interventions. For the biggest polluted areas, Blacksmith works with local partners, including environmental authorities, to identify large-scale interventions for potential funding by international agencies. Since 1999 Blacksmith Institute has completed 29 projects in 9 countries and is currently engaged in 42 projects in 12 countries.