Italy and the World Bank signed an agreement on July 2 on the establishment of an US$8.5 million Trust Fund to support environmental activities in China. The grant, provided by the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory and administered by the Bank, will focus on:

• Integrating environmental considerations into development policies;
• Strengthening institutional framework and regulatory tools; and
• Investing in activities that contribute to the mitigation of climate change. 

The grant will finance studies in priority areas such as a climate change strategy for China, approaches to promote a "circular economy," and the introduction of green accounting. It will also finance environmental activities to complement World Bank projects, and the development of future environmental capacity building activities and investments to be co-financed with the World Bank.             

"In addition to studies, the grant will finance the restoration of grasslands, recycling of livestock waste through composting, and conversion of crop residues into cattle feed, through a pilot program in Heilongjiang Province. These activities will be implemented in combination with a Bank-financed dairy project which is under preparation," said Teresa Serra, director of the Environment and Social Development Sector Unit, East Asia and Pacific, of the World Bank.

"The establishment of the Trust Fund, in partnership with the World Bank, represents the strengthening of the Sino-Italian cooperation on environmental issues. We see it as a means to explore new and creative financing responses to environmental challenges," said Dr. Corrado Clini, director general of the Ministry for the Environment and Territory of Italy.