France pledges 6 bln euros to encourage renewable energy in Africa

France would invest 6 billion euros (6.37 billion U. S. dollars) for the 2016-2020 period to help finance Africa's projects to renew its energy sources and cope with climate deterioration, French President Francois Hollande announced Tuesday.

"Africa is not responsible of green gas emissions but it suffers desertification, food insecurity and poverty. There is an ecological debt that the developed world needs to pay to Africa," Hollande said.

"We believe that Africa has considerable development capabilities. A very substantial part of our effort will benefit Africa, including the electrification of the continent, without waiting for 2020," Hollande told a gathering of African leaders and world's lenders.

Works of 21st U.N. climate conference started on Monday in Paris where negotiators from 195 participating countries will hammer out an accord to trim global warming by 2 degrees Celsius. (1 euro = 1.062 U.S. dollar) Enditem